Intertwined
by A Hopeful Voice
Summary: Gothel finds herself in Limbo and casts a spell to reverse time.  She must stop Rapunzel from ever meeting Flynn Rider if she wants to stay young.  However, no matter what she does, can she stop true love?
1. Prologue  The Book of Limbo

**Well, I love the movie Tangled, and I just had to write a story about it! This will be a multi-chapter, and probably pretty long-at least twenty thousand words by the time I'm done with it. Hopefully, that is. I started this today, so this is all I have. It's a sequel to Tangled, and sort of like the Cinderella III movie, but won't follow that plot line, just the basic idea.**

**Also, the idea of the Disney villains was Kairan1979's. :) Thanks again! I based it off the villain part of Fantasmic!-the show at Hollywood Studios in WDW and Disneyland I think. I haven't been to the parks in Anaheim.**

**Please review to tell me what you like and if I should continue!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled, or the Disney movies that are referred to. I wish I owned Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert...but alas, I do not. :'( Even if he is my wallpaper on my phone...creeper much? :)**

**Intertwined**

_Prologue – The Book of Limbo_

Gothel opened her eyes. She was surrounded by a bleak monotone of color. Grey with hints of white and black at her right and left, respectively. The old woman looked at her hands—pale and withered, like they were when she first found the golden flower.

She stood from her current position—lying down—and looked around. Bland nothingness.

There was nothing anywhere. She was alone.

She tested her voice. "Rapunzel!" she cried. Gravelly and _old_. And weak, too. Gothel didn't know why she decided to say her daughter's name.

Rapunzel wasn't really her daughter. Gothel had kidnapped Rapunzel as an infant, and came to love her. Their little conversations would go something like:

_I love you_.

I love you more.

_I love you most._

And then it was finished.

Complete.

Like her life.

Gothel couldn't help having these depressing thoughts. After all, she was dead. Dead as a doornail. Where did that expression come from anyway? No matter. Did anything matter anymore? Does it even matter? No. These thoughts must be coming from the gray-ness of the place.

"I wish I could go back," she said to herself, as there was no one else to say it to. "I wish I could do some spell or something or _anything_ to go back and change how it happened. I hate being old. I need my precious daughter's golden hair to restore my youth! Oh, Rapunzel…you are so much better than that common thief. I need to be back with my darling Rapunzel!"

And as soon as she said these words, eight mysterious and dangerous-looking people appeared in front of her. There was a woman who had eight tentacles instead of feet, a ferocious lion, a scary man with grayish skin and a furry hood, a man wearing yellow with a large rifle (Gothel didn't know how she knew that word; it must be the place she was in), a huge man with long black hair pulled behind his head, a man with graying hair and a fancy three-cornered hat, a woman with green skin, and a menacing woman with long black robes and a fancy tiara.

"Who are you?" Gothel gasped.

The woman with the tiara stepped forward. "I am the Wicked Queen." She began referring to others in the group. "Maleficent, Frollo, Gaston, Clayton, Shan Yu, Scar, and Ursula. Together, we are The Villains. Welcome to Limbo, Gothel."

"How did you know my name?" Gothel asked, suddenly wary of these people.

Scar growled, "This is Lim—"

"—bo," Ursula finished. "And we are going to help you get your happ—"

"—ily ever after!" Frollo said. "If none of us can, you—"

"—will!" Clayton said. "We need someone to live through. And, well, none of us had magi—"

"—cal deaths," interrupted Maleficent. "We may have been magic, but we died hum—"

"—an deaths," Ursula growled. "And now we're going to let you—"

"—live." Shan Yu continued, "Now, you must—"

"—be prepared," Scar laughed maniacally. "We must leave in a moment, and you will not see us again unless you—"

"—return. And then you will have failed again, so—" the Wicked Queen said.

"—you may not try again," Maleficent finished. "Are you prepared?"

"Of course," Gothel said, slightly stunned.

"Good," they all said in unison before they vanished.

And as they disappeared, a large book appeared in front of Gothel.

"How curious," she muttered to herself, forgetting for the moment how much she hated mumbling. Gothel knelt down and opened the book. As soon as she lifted the hard and heavy cover, the pages turned of their own accord.

_Welcome to Limbo, Gothel,_ the page read. She gasped. _This is the book of Limbo. It will answer any question you have, and will fulfill your deepest desire—to become young again, to turn back time, to be with Rapunzel—the daughter who isn't really yours._

"How does this book know these things?" she gasped to herself.

_I am the book of Limbo. I know all._ A slight breeze blew and the pages turned, finally settling about 400 pages in. Gothel read the page, noting that there was a golden flower on each corner of the page.

_A Spell to Reverse Time_

_Flower, gleam and glow_

_Let your power shine_

_Make the clock reverse_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_Save what once was lost_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_What once was mine_

_Familiar, eh, Gothel?_ said the page. _Try the spell, and all your dreams will come true._

Gothel didn't hesitate; she began singing the very familiar song. Funny how the song that once caused Rapunzel's hair to glow was now going to fix everything. As Gothel sang, the little flowers on the page began to glow, and a wind picked up.

The breezy wind quickly turned into a hurricane. The grayness of the land quickly turned to gold as the winds blew in a circle surrounding Gothel. She smiled and then began laughing maniacally as she saw her youth returning.

And then the winds stopped and the gold faded to a dark gray, but there was light at both ends of the tunnel. Literally.

Gothel smiled as she took the familiar path home. She exited the rock and saw the tower.

"Rapunzel!" she cried. "Rapunzel, let down your hair!"

Seventy feet of golden hair flew out the window and landed in front of Gothel.

Gothel smiled. Things were going to be right again. But first, she had to move Rapunzel to another safe location. If she never let Rapunzel stay on her own, she would never meet Flynn Rider, and then Rapunzel would Gothel's priso—_daughter—_forever.


	2. Leaving and Coming to the Tower

**Hello! This is where things begin to get a little interesting! And maybe confusing...it makes sense to me, anyway. But of course, I know the whole story so...**

**A TON of you have put this on your story alerts, but are failing to review! Please review! It makes me write faster! :)**

**And I edited the Prologue, so go back and reread that please! - 11/30/10**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled, even though I wish I owned Flynn Rider... :'( Please review! It'll help me feel better since I don't own Flynn! :)**

* * *

_Chapter I – Leaving the Tower_

Rapunzel was talking to her best—and only—friend, Pascal, when she heard her mother call, "Rapunzel! Rapunzel, let down your hair!"

She immediately sprang to her feet and ran to the window. She looped the end of her hair together, knotting it, and creating a place for her mother to step while Rapunzel pulled her up. Rapunzel threw her hair over a hook, creating a sort of pulley system. She pulled her mother up, and embraced her as soon as Gothel got into the room.

"Mother! I have something I need to tell—" Rapunzel began, but she was interrupted.

"You can tell me later, darling," Gothel said. "First, pack your things as quickly as possible. We're leaving."

Rapunzel stared at her mother in shock. "What? Why? You've never let me leave the tower before!"

"I know," Gothel said, a little too calmly. It scared Rapunzel. "But now we're leaving. We'll avoid common places so you don't get kidnapped. Go, Rapunzel! Get your things!"

Rapunzel shook in her spot, partly because of her fear of her mother, and partly from excitement because she was finally leaving her tower. Rapunzel grabbed Pascal, and ran up the stairs to her bedroom. She found a satchel and placed her favorite things in it—some of her paints, two of her favorite books, her current knitting project, and some other things. Pascal poked her with his tail and then pointed it to the door.

"I know, Pascal," Rapunzel said. "I should ask her if she'll take me to the lights, but I just can't. You saw how quickly she got upset with me a few moments ago! She'll be so angry with me if I even mention it! I suppose there's always next year…"

Pascal looked at her as if to say, "You'll just say the same thing next year and the year after and the next year and the next…"

"I suppose I could ask…What could she say? I am turning eighteen after all…"

Rapunzel slung the satchel over her shoulder and left her room. She looked over her shoulder, back into her room. The memories flushed over Rapunzel.

"Hey, Mother?" she called as she mentally sighed and walked down the stairs. "I know you wouldn't normally agree to this…but…since we're leaving the tower, could we possible go to the lights tomorrow night? You know, the ones that appear on my birthday every year?"

"Rapunzel, that's preposterous. We're going to avoid the crowds, and that would be going straight into the crowds. After all, they're only stars."

"No they're not, Mother! I've charted stars, and these aren't stars!" Rapunzel cried.

"Rapunzel, do not raise your voice at me! We are not going to see these stars and that is final!" Gothel shouted. "Great. Now I've raised my voice as well. Do you have all your things together?" Rapunzel nodded. "Good. Let's go."

Rapunzel walked over to the window, eyes downcast. Pascal was still on her shoulder. Rapunzel carefully picked him up and placed him in her satchel. She looped her hair over the hook and let the rest fall to the ground. Gothel slid down first, followed by Rapunzel. She pulled the rest of her hair down. Rapunzel was too upset to even notice the grass beneath her feet—something she had never experienced before.

"Where are we going to go, Mother?"

"I don't know yet, Rapunzel," Gothel answered. "We'll just walk until we think of somewhere."

Rapunzel hoped they would wander in the general direction of the lights. "Alright, Mother."

They walked and walked and walked.

And walked and walked and walked.

And walked and walked and walked.

Eventually, it was late afternoon and they were resting in a small clearing. Gothel built a fire and the two sat around it. Rapunzel was happier than before, but still sad. "Will we ever go back?"

Gothel looked at her daughter. "We will someday. Maybe sooner than you think." Something nailed to a tree caught Gothel's attention. She stood and went to tear it off. She looked at it and then a new idea sprang to her mind. "Change of plans. I'm going to the village, unless we can find some Royal Guards before we get home."

"Why?" Rapunzel asked. "What is that? Who is that a portrait of?"

"Flynn Rider," Gothel answered, carefully gauging Rapunzel's reaction for any sign that Rapunzel recognized that name. There was no recognition. "He's a thief wanted for stealing the lost princess' crown. I know where he is. Come. We're going back tonight."

"But it's nearly dark out! You said that it's not safe at night and especially in the forest!" Rapunzel exclaimed.

"Do as I say, darling," Gothel said. The two packed up their things and headed back to the tower.

Once they arrived, Gothel carefully pulled the stones from the bottom side. She revealed a dark room. There was nothing in there.

"You must stay here," Gothel ordered. "Do not leave."

"Mother, it's dark!" Rapunzel said warily. "Why can't I go back up into the tower?"

"I think it won't be safe up there. I want you here for now. If you need light, use your magical hair, but don't waste any magic, please, dear."

"Yes, Mother."

"Now be safe. I love you!"

"I love you more!"

"I love you most!"

And Gothel left, but not before stacking the stones back up to seal Rapunzel in. _That should keep them apart,_ Gothel thought to herself and smirked.

Rapunzel softly sang to her hair, making it glow. That's how she found the ladder. Rapunzel began to climb. It was a long, long, long, long, _long_ way up. She was sure her hair was still touching the floor when she pushed her one of her hands up ahead of her and revealed early morning light.

She carefully climbed up and then pulled all seventy feet of her hair up. Once she was up safely, she looked around. Something looked…off. Something wasn't right. Someone was here. Rapunzel gasped and carefully and quietly walked over to the kitchen area. She grabbed the closest thing to her—a frying pan.

And then she saw him.

Flynn Rider carefully climbed the stone tower's walls. He breathed a sigh of relief when he reached the top. Thankfully, the window was cracked. Flynn climbed in and took a deep breath. He gasped in awe as he took in his surroundings. There was a miniature apartment at the top of the tower. It was completely furnished with a loft upstairs and everything. The entire area was beautifully painted.

Rider poked around. What luck! This was a perfect hiding place! Those goons he stole the crown with would never find him here, and neither would the guards! Flynn noticed all the commodities the tower had to offer. He could live up here as long as he needed, and hide if he had to. It was perfect!

He looked at his reflection in the mirror. "I really am ruggedly handsome, aren't I?" Flynn smiled to himself and then looked at his smolder. Perfect.

Flynn Rider, well-known thief, knew that somebody lived up here. He just hoped they wouldn't come home too soon. But then he heard it.

Sounds coming from below. And they were getting closer.

Flynn used a mirror to peek out the window. No one was climbing the tower…but then, through the mirror, he saw one of the tiles on the floor be pushed up. _Darn!_ he hissed to himself. Flynn quickly hid beside the stairs. It was at least sort of out of sight of the floor.

He saw the girl sit on the edge of the hole with her back to him. What was she doing? And then he saw. She was pulling her hair up. And it _never ended_! Her hair had to be a thousand feet long! She looked around suspiciously, but didn't notice him at first.

She went over to the kitchen and grabbed a frying pan. _What the heck?_ Flynn thought to himself.

But then she turned toward him.

And they made eye contact.


	3. Hostage

**Hey! Here's another chapter! I literally just finished this because my life is extremely busy. But on the plus side, today is my mom's birthday and I might see Tangled again on Saturday! Woohoo!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled or Beauty and the Beast (there are two extremely tiny references that aren't really references at all, but still...). I wish I owned Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert...**

**Please review! It literally makes my day! Nearly three dozen of you have this on your alert and more are reading, so I know you're there! Haha but seriously. I've been so proud of all of you so far! Please make me even happier! :) Enjoy the newest chapter!**

_Chapter II – Hostage_

Rapunzel gasped sharply, and raised the frying pan. She prepared herself to hit the strange man with it, but he held up his hands and said, "Hey, hey, don't hit me with that! I'm not going to hurt you!" She started walking toward him as he continued, "I'm just here because I, uh, needed someplace to stay for the night. Yeah…There was, uh, a pack of wolves and, uh…"

He never got to finish his thought because Rapunzel hit him over the head with the frying pan. He was knocked to the floor, unconscious. She pulled him up into a chair and tied him up with her hair. Staying a considerable distance from him, she watched him, waiting for him to come to and trying to decide what to do with him.

"I know, Pascal," she said. "I really should have stayed downstairs, but you know I couldn't! It was too dark and there was nothing down there! And now I don't even know what to do because there's a person in my tower…" Realization hit her. "Pascal, there's a person in my tower! There's a person in my tower! And his name isn't Mother!" Pascal looked at her with a confused expression. "True, we don't even know his name…" Rapunzel looked over and saw the man's satchel. She looked in it and saw a beautiful tiara and a crumbled up and slightly ripped sheet of paper.

Rapunzel walked over to the large mirror. She placed the tiara on her head. She stared at her reflection. The tiara looked like it belonged on her head…like it was meant to be there…like it was hers. But of course, it was not. Rapunzel was no princess. She was simply a girl who had lived in a tower her whole life and had never stepped outside until this morning.

She reluctantly placed the tiara back in the satchel and looked at the piece of paper. It was a drawing of a man, with the title: WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: FLYNN RIDER, THIEF. So that was his name. "Flynn Rider," she said to herself. He was wanted for stealing something! "Oh, Pascal, what if he came to rob our tower! He's a thief! What should we do? I don't think he took anything yet…Maybe we should just leave him tied up…Though I do want to talk to him…Could you wake him up?"

Pascal rolled his eyes and climbed up onto Flynn Rider's shoulder. While he was carefully trying to poke Flynn Rider with his tail, Rapunzel stashed the satchel in an empty pot. The poking was unsuccessful, so Pascal finally just stuck his tongue in the man's ear.

Flynn Rider jerked awake and cried out. "Ah!" He looked down and saw that he was completely bound to a chair. And there was a lizard on his shoulder. Flynn shrugged the gecko off and looked around. There was no sign of his mysterious captor.

But then he looked into the shadows of the room. A tiny bare foot stepped out, followed by another, and then an entire person. She had extremely long blonde hair that Flynn realized was the rope used to tie him up. He couldn't tell if he was impressed or disgusted.

"I know why you're here, _Flynn Rider_," the girl said. "If that's even your real name. Who are you really and how did you find me?"

Flynn cleared his throat and said smoothly in a falsely suave voice, "I know not who you are, nor how I came to find you, but may I just say…Hi. How ya doin'?" She stared at him blankly. He sighed. "I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice. Here comes the smolder." Flynn looked down and put on his famously epic look—the smolder. He looked up at her.

Rapunzel looked at the odd look on the man's face. What a freak! She was too confused to ask.

He sighed again. "Alright blondie—"

She interrupted him, "Rapunzel."

"Gesundheit," he said. "Anyway, why do you have me tied up? If you don't mind, I'll just collect my belongings and be on my way! Where…where…oh…oh no…where is my satchel?"

Proudly, Rapunzel said, "I've hidden it. Somewhere you'll never find it!"

Flynn Rider looked around a little. "It's in that pot, isn't it?"

Rapunzel pouted and hit him over the head with the frying pan, rendering him unconscious _again_.

After Rapunzel re-hid the satchel, Flynn was awakened by another ear-licking. "Gah!" he exclaimed. "Does he have to do that?"

Rapunzel ignored him. "I've hidden your satchel where you'll never find it! Now, something brought you here…Fate…Destiny…"

"A horse," Flynn said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I just want you to know," she continued, "you're never going to get your hands on my hair…well, more than you are now."

"I'm not here for your hair!" he exclaimed.

"You're…you're not?" she asked.

"No! I just want to get _out _of your hair…literally! Who are you? Frankly, I'm too scared to ask about the frog."

"Chameleon. If you're not here for my hair," Rapunzel said carefully, "then why are you here?"

"I was…uh…running away…and I was, uh, attacked by, uh, wolves…uh, yeah. Let's go with that. Now, if you'll just give me my satchel, I'll be on my—"

"Oh, no," Rapunzel said, looking out the window.

"What is it?" he asked.

"My mother. I'm not supposed to be up here. If I'm ever going to let Mother let me go to see the lights, I need to always listen to her! And I'm pretty sure you don't want those guards coming up here either."

"What?" he repeated. "Get me out of here! Listen, I have a plan!"

"What is it?" Rapunzel asked, quickly unraveling her hair from around his body because she had to get down to the base of the tower.

"Alright, you and I will make our escape. We'll go downstairs—hopefully the guards won't realize I've been up here and they'll leave. Would you say your mother will do anything to get you back?"

"Of course!" Rapunzel said.

"Okay, well you're going to come with me, as a…uh…a piece of…_insurance_ that I get out of the kingdom safely. If you're with me, no guards are going to touch me if I…uh…put you in front of me…yeah. When I get to the border, you can go on your merry way to see whatever lights you're talking about."

"The lights that float in the sky every year on my birthday—tomorrow!"

"Oh, the lanterns for the lost princess! What a coincidence that you two have the same birthday!"

"The lost princess…" Rapunzel mumbled to herself. She snapped back into reality. "So what are you saying? That I'm going to be your hostage?"

"Well, that's an ugly way to put it…" Rapunzel glared at him. "Karma stinks, doesn't it? I was your hostage and now…well…anyway, let's get going."

He was finally untied, and they were heading toward the hole in the floor.

"What is making me go with you? You would hurt me," Rapunzel said.

"Do you want to leave the tower or what?"

"Good point," she said.

"I'm going to need my satchel," Flynn said. "I won't be coming back here."

Rapunzel groaned. Her only leverage was gone. Well… "No. Your satchel is my only guarantee that you won't harm me. You'll take me to the lights, and then we'll come back and I'll take you to the border. Deal?"

"Seems like a lot of walking to me…" Rapunzel's glare cut him off. Flynn sighed and rolled his eyes. "Deal," he groaned. They briefly shook hands.

Rapunzel wondered if he felt that brief emotion that she felt when their hands touched.

"He should be up there!" Gothel's voice cried. The two heard people climbing the tower.

"We have to hurry!" Rapunzel hissed. They quickly scrambled down the hole. Rapunzel pulled the tile back over the entrance, trapping them in darkness. She still didn't trust Flynn Rider enough to let him know that her hair was magical. They quickly sat in darkness until they started pulling stones out of the entry way, flooding the cave with light.

Rapunzel stuck her head out. They could see no one. The two quickly ran to the shadows and started creeping out of the meadow. Gothel was commanding the guards from the ground. Every back was facing them—no faces.

"We're almost out!" Rapunzel said ecstatically, excited to be leaving her tower.

"Not quite," Flynn answered. A guard heard them and turned around.

"Hey!" the guard shouted. All the others turned around.

"Damn," Flynn hissed. Rapunzel looked taken aback at his choice of language. Flynn quickly drew his dagger and placed it at Rapunzel's throat, holding her hands captive behind her back. Rapunzel gasped. "Don't worry," he whispered. "I won't hurt you. This is all for show, just so we can get out of here alive."

The guards ran toward them.

"Stop!" Flynn shouted, causing Rapunzel to wince because his mouth was right next to her ear. "Come any closer and I'll slit her throat!"

Everyone froze. Gothel was glaring daggers at Flynn. If looks could kill, he'd be dead ten times over. Flynn started backing up slowly. Soon they were right at the stone passage's edge.

"Don't you dare follow us! She'll come back in one piece if you do as I say!" Flynn whispered, "On three, run as fast as you can out the passage and to the left. Climb the nearest tree as high as you can and don't be seen. One…two…three!"

And the two took off running, causing the guards to follow, but Flynn and Rapunzel had the lead. They ran to the left of the ivy and climbed a tree. Rapunzel began to slip, but Flynn grabbed her hand and pulled her up. They pulled her hair up as fast as they could—not an easy feat.

But surprisingly, this was effective. The guards and Gothel had spread out, and no eyes looked up. After an hour or so of searching, they reconvened and headed back toward the castle, unhappy to tell the King and Queen that Rider was still missing and he had now kidnapped a young woman.

Rapunzel and Flynn were both relieved and amazed. They were safe for the time being.


	4. Into the Woods

**Hi! I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to update this weekend! I know I said I would, but then I got in trouble because my room wasn't clean...and long story short, I was not allowed on my laptop, but then my mom apologized, so I just...got on my computer anyway...Well, I needed to do homework, so...**

**I'll update as soon as I can! It'll probably be on Tuesday. The updates will probably come on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and/or Sunday, and then maybe some more once school ends in two weeks.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled (or anything else I might reference, including Shrek, Lord of the Rings...I think that's it for this chapter). And I don't own Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert, even if I may be his mistress. Now, that's a LONG story! :) Please review and enjoy! :)**

_Chapter III – Into the Woods_

Rapunzel and Flynn Rider walked through the woods cautiously, knowing that Gothel and the soldiers would be right behind them at some point. Rapunzel couldn't decide if she was happy she had left her tower, or depressed that she had run away from her tower. She knew Gothel would be angry. She also didn't understand why Flynn had acted—and was acting—the way he had. Well, did it matter? He was going to take her see the lights, and then she would go home. End of story.

She could tell that he was already getting sick of her. After all, who wants to hang out with a socially-challenged girl with seventy feet of hair? Not most people. Rapunzel's mother did, of course.

The world was a scary place. Rapunzel kept seeing faces in the trees, but would then realize that it was just holes and knots in the wood. There was nothing there, nothing trying to kill her. But…if Mother said that the world was a scary place…well…Mother knows best.

Rapunzel pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind. She tried to keep up with Flynn Rider's long strides. Her hair kept getting caught on roots and rocks. Rapunzel gathered as much of it as she could into her arms and then ran to catch up to Flynn.

"So…" she said, trying to make simple conversation. "What's your life story? I mean, you pretty much already know mine. I've lived in that tower my whole life. I mean, um…"

"There's not much to my life," Flynn said, slightly taken aback that she was attempting to talk to him. That's all he was going to say on his life and Rapunzel sensed that.

She sighed and continued walking. "What are the lights like?" she asked abruptly.

Flynn paused for a moment, but then continued walking as he answered, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what are the lights like from up close?"

"They're pretty amazing. They're the lanterns for the lost princess, so there are thousands of them. It's really overwhelming watching the King and Queen send them up into the sky."

"How long have the King and Queen been floating the lanterns?"

Flynn pondered for a moment. "I think this is the nineteenth year. They sent one lantern up when the lost princess was born, and then thousands on her birthday every year. She would be turning eighteen tomorrow."

"Me too!" Rapunzel exclaimed. "How old are you, Flynn Rider?"

"Twenty-one," he smirked. Flynn laughed as he said, "So I'm a legal adult! Well, technically, so are you…"

"Not yet," she said after he trailed off. "I turn eighteen tomorrow. That's so funny how the lost princess and I have the same birthday! What was her name?"

Flynn thought about it and then realized—"I don't know."

"How do you just not know?" Rapunzel asked.

"I don't know. I don't exactly spend a lot of time around civilized people, except when I'm stealing something from them." Flynn realized something else. "Are you hungry? I'm hungry. What do you want? We've got loads of choices here. The Snuggly Duckling, Good Ol' Farmer McDonald's, The Prancing Pony, The Poison Apple, and, uh…well, actually, the Snuggly Duckling is the closest. Does that sound good to you?"

"I don't c—" Rapunzel said.

"Great!" Flynn said. "It's probably the tamest of all of them! Nicest people around and best food outside of the capitol!"

"Well, I do love duckling…"

"Yay!" Flynn waved his hands enthusiastically and sarcastically. Hopefully this would convince her to just take him to the border and get home. After all, the world is a scary place. The two walked down the path to the Snuggly Duckling. Flynn opened the heavy wooden door and Rapunzel gasped upon seeing the large number of thugs inside. "Garçon! You're finest table please!"

Gothel stayed with the soldiers after that awful affair at the tower. That impudent _Flynn Rider_ must have found his way down to the base of the tower…or Rapunzel found her way up. Either way, they were together again and Gothel couldn't stand that. She had to separate them! But how?

She still had the Book of Limbo. Somehow, that had come back with her. Would something in there help her? Maybe she could contact the people she met in Limbo? Surely they would help her. Gothel sat on a log by herself with the Book on her lap. She carefully opened its pages, hoping that that wind would blow and direct her to the right page.

Fortunately for Gothel, it did.

She saw some writing form on the page: _Hello, again, Gothel. For you to contact your cohorts, just write on this page!_

Gothel found a quill and some ink, and began to write. **Hello?**

_Maleficent will be writing—it's easier for only one of us to write. What do you need?_

**Help. My daughter and the man I am trying to keep her away from have found each other and run off together.**

_Oh, dear. That is problematic. Would you like us to give you some things to try? Or should we just send our essences over to your world at the right time?_

**What do you mean?**

_We shall send a piece of ourselves into your world to…mess things up a bit. You may or may not see us. We never know. At a different point in time, whomever you need will come. You needn't say which of us to come. We'll know and decide what to do. Now, find them and we will think of something to do. Deal?_

**Deal.**

Gothel closed the book, but left the quill in the page so she knew where the conversation was. Somehow, Gothel knew where Rapunzel would be. It was the only place that really made sense. "Oh, boys!" she called to the soldiers. "I know where my daughter and the thief are!"

The men immediately packed up and followed Gothel to the Snuggly Duckling.

Rapunzel and Flynn were a little sad to leave their new friends. They waited by the door as they spoke with the thug with the hook hand who dreamed of being a concert pianist. He held the front door open as he said, "You are welcome here anytime you like. Now, go. Live your dream."

Flynn looked off into the distance. "I will."

The thug rolled his eyes and said, "Your dream stinks. I was talking to her."

Rapunzel blushed and said, "Thank you!" as the two walked out of the small restaurant.

They walked a little ways off into the forest when the hairs on the back of Flynn's neck began to rise. He turned around, but saw nothing.

Rapunzel felt Pascal's tail poke her. She looked at her best friend and his eyes and tail darted around wildly. Rapunzel looked around and screamed as she saw that Flynn and she were surrounded by the guards.

"Flynn?" she asked nervously, anxiously grabbing his arm.

"I know," he said.

The same thought crossed both their minds at the same time: _We're doomed._


	5. Secrets

**Well, here's the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy because this is the longest one yet! Thank you for all your wonderful reviews! :) Expect an update on Thursday, but I have a paper due Friday, so it may not be until Saturday, but I'll try! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled. :'( Dear Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert, will you marry me?**

**Enjoy! And please review! :)**

_Chapter IV – Secrets_

To Rapunzel and Flynn, life was too short. As they realized that they were completely surrounded, each regretted many things.

Rapunzel – never leaving her tower and making friends, other than Pascal and Flynn, if he could be considered a friend.

Flynn Rider – pretty much every choice he had ever made.

Rapunzel weakly raised her frying pan. Flynn glanced over and rolled his eyes. Like _that_ would help.

The guards started closing in. The one who seemed to be in charge began to speak slowly and cautiously, as if trying to tame a wild animal. "Don't worry, miss. We're here to help you. We just need to arrest this dangerous thief. Has he hurt you?"

"What?" Rapunzel asked. "No! Of course not! He's my friend, I think!"

"Poor girl," another guard said. "She's been brainwashed."

"No, I haven't!" Rapunzel cried. She raised her frying pan more and took her long hair in her other hand. The forest was not a good place for a fight. _At least we could climb the trees_, Rapunzel thought to herself.

"Hey, Blondie," Flynn hissed. "Got a plan?" She shook her head slightly. "Neither do I. I vote we just run and see what happens."

"But we're surrounded!" she squeaked.

"Well, duh. Look, we just have to get away. We can make it."

"But how are we supposed to just walk away?" Rapunzel whispered. No doubt the guards were getting suspicious by now. They were talking to each other, too, though.

Flynn looked around. Rapunzel had seemed pretty deft at using her hair as extended arms, right? Flynn figured that she could swing them up into a tree and they could climb away from there by hopping tree to tree. He quickly told her his plan. She bit her lip and handed him the frying pan. Pascal took a piece of her hair and tied it around his waist so he wouldn't fall off and be left behind. Rapunzel quickly looped the hair around in her hands, trying not to attract the apprehensive attention of the guards.

Rapunzel quickly threw her hair around the trees like she did to the beams in the tower. She wrapped her arm around Flynn's waist—it felt strange—and swung the two of them up. The guards seemed angry and confused, with good reason.

Unfortunately, they had become smart since their last encounter with the fugitives and were now able to climb trees and fight at the same time.

Flynn balanced himself on the tree limbs, wobbling every so often, and fought sword against frying pan. Rapunzel kept hopping from tree to tree, trying to stay within seventy feet of Flynn, but far enough from the danger.

_Crash!_ The frying pan and the sword were making a loud racket as the balancing act continued. Flynn knew he didn't have enough skill to stay up forever. Hopefully, neither did the man he was fighting with. The sword was thrust at Flynn. The frying pan was thrown into a protective place with barely any time left before the sword hit skin. Flynn recovered more quickly than the guard who had slightly lost his balance. Rider promptly hit the man over the head with the frying pan, knocking him fifteen feet to the ground.

"Man!" Flynn cried out, referring to the frying pan. "I have got to get me one of these!" Another guard climbed up into the tree just as Flynn was realizing that he needed to make his escape. "Oh, come on!"

The battle continued until Flynn was fighting three men. The frying pan was definitely helping, but it wasn't perfect. Another man was knocked out of the tree. He began gloating to the other two men.

"Ha ha ha! See what this frying pan can do? It's like rock paper scissors! It's frying pan sword…uh…"

"Flynn!" Rapunzel cried. "Look out!" Flynn turned around and ducked as soon as another sword came from behind.

"Well, that was hardly fair, my good man," Flynn said, using the frying pan to deflect the sword and cast it to the ground. But now there were five men on numerous branches of the tree, and Flynn could only fight so many at one time. He carefully jumped to another tree and the other men followed suit. Flynn cursed under his breath.

"Not so happy now, are you, Rider?" one guard sneered.

"Yeah, not so much," Flynn said, using the frying pan to stop an attempted sneak attack.

Rapunzel watched the battle carefully, staying close to Flynn, but far enough away so she couldn't get hurt. Pascal poked her with his tail and meaningfully looked down. Rapunzel followed his line of sight and saw a brief glimpse of a woman in a long cloak. "Mother?" she asked rhetorically. "Is it her, Pascal? What is she doing here?"

Pascal shrugged.

"I guess we should help Flynn get out, shouldn't we?" Pascal sighed and then nodded slowly. "But where will we go?" The two glanced around, looking for anywhere to escape to. "There!" Rapunzel exclaimed. She saw a rock formation that looked like it headed downhill. Surely there would be a place to hide in there, if not another exit somewhere else. At least there was enough shrubbery surrounding it so it wouldn't be visible from the ground, especially if it was barely visible from above. "Let's save the damsel in distress," Rapunzel laughed. She hurled her hair toward Flynn and it curled around his torso. She yanked him toward him, steadying herself against the tree.

The two immediately jumped to the ground and hid amongst the bushes that hid the cave's entrance.

The guards began to search, but could not find Rider or the girl. They continued their search as the people they were searching for began inching toward the cave.

Once Rapunzel and Flynn were under the cover of darkness, they began walking a little faster, but still silently. Eventually, they reached what seemed like a dead end. "I thought this _must_ come out somewhere!" Rapunzel exclaimed. "Well, I guess we'll have to head back…" She trailed off, gauging Flynn's reaction. Audibly, of course. It was so dark, they couldn't see a thing.

"No. We'll get caught if we head back. Do you have any matches?"

"No," Rapunzel said. She was silent, deciding if this was a good time to determine if she trusted him enough to tell him that her hair glowed. Better now than never. "I have magic hair that glows when I sing," she said softly.

"What?" he asked.

"I have magic hair that glows when I sing!" she said. "Do you want to see?"

"Will it be enough light to last us a while, until the guards leave and we can go?" Flynn asked.

"I think," she said. Rapunzel coiled her hair up in her arms to create one mass source of light. She held some of it in her hands and sang, "Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine…Heal what has been hurt, change the fates' design, save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine, what once was mine…"

As she sang, her hair began to glow, starting at her head and rolling around the coil to her feet. Both immediately cried out as they saw a small crawl space that looked like another exit. Each dropped to their knees and began to crawl through. Rapunzel's hair provided enough light to crawl by. Besides, if worse came to worst, they could just crawl backwards into the chamber.

After about ten or fifteen minutes of crawling in the rock, Flynn exclaimed, "Hey! We're out!"

The two crawled out of the rock and into a small clearing. "We're free!" Rapunzel exclaimed. She jumped around a little, doing twirls and whatnot. She stopped to make her head stop spinning and immediately cried, "You're bleeding!"

It was true. Flynn just hadn't said anything. Right as she pulled him away from the skirmish, one of the swords had nicked his arm. He hadn't felt it at first, but then it hurt and the blood was just annoying. "So?" he asked nonchalantly.

"So…you're bleeding! I can fix that!"

"Don't tell me your hair heals injuries, too!"

"How did you know?"

Flynn stared at her, dumbfounded. "Lucky guess," he finally choked out.

Rapunzel sat down on a log and motioned for Flynn to sit across from her. She took his arm and wrapped the end of her hair around it. Before she began to sing, she said, "Just, don't freak out, okay?" He nodded, silently admitting to himself, _I was freaking out in that cave. The time for freaking out has passed. _"Good," she said, and sang, "Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine…Heal what has been hurt, change the fates' design, save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine, what once was mine…" Again, her hair began to glow and when it finally faded to a normal color, she pulled her hair off Flynn's arm.

There was nothing there—not even a scar.

Flynn's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "I—I am _not_ freaking out. This is not freaking out. This is…is…shock…"

"It always works," Rapunzel said. "But if it gets cut," she pulled out the short piece from the underside of her head, "it turns brown and doesn't grow anymore. So that's why I can never cut my hair. Mother said that people would want to cut it off for its power, and then I wouldn't be able to heal anymore or keep her young."

"That's why your mother kept you locked up?" Flynn asked. "You've been keeping her young?"

Rapunzel nodded. "It doesn't bother me, though. I get to stay with her forever and she never has to age."

"But what about when you age more than her? She'll eventually look like your daughter."

"Well, that'll never happen. At least, I don't think. I've never thought about it before."

Flynn thought that Rapunzel's mother was extremely selfish for using her own daughter's power for herself. Flynn knew that Rapunzel was showing that she trusted him by telling him this. He sighed. He always knew this day would come. "My name's Eugene."

"What?" she asked, dropping the strands of hair she had been playing with.

"My name's Eugene Fitzherbert. I grew up in an orphanage and read the _Flynnigan Rider _stories to all the younger children. When I grew up and had to get out on my own, I had to go to drastic measures, and Eugene Fitzherbert isn't a very tough sounding name. Flynn Rider is much better." He was silent for a few moments. "I just thought you should know."

"Thanks, Flynn," she said. "Y'know, I think Eugene suits you."

They were silent for a few moments.

"Well, we should probably get to sleep now," Rapunzel said. She lay down and stared up at the stars that were shining through the trees. "Good night, Eugene."

"Good night, Rapunzel."

By sharing their most hidden secrets, they knew that they each had someone they could trust and would be able to depend on. Strangely, neither had had that before, and now were relieved and surprised at how good it felt.


	6. Of Nefarious Plans and Forced Alliances

**Hello! Sorry I couldn't update on Thursday. I had the rough draft of a major paper due Friday, so I had to write that...but anyway, here's the next chapter of Intertwined! This may seem a little like the movie, and so might the next chapter, but after that, things get waaaaay different. And there's more Disney Villains in this-they're going to become bigger parts soon, but not too much. Just more important to the story.**

**Oh, and thank you so much for your reviews! Sorry if I didn't reply individually! I'm trying to, but I'm really busy! I'll try and reply to everyone! :) So please review! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled or the Disney Villains (even though I don't think they're mentioned directly by name in this chapter...). :( And I don't own Flynn either! But a guy at my church looks like Flynn...it's kind of scary. If Ben grew his hair out and grew his little beard back (he shaved it off), he could be a Flynn replica. My friend Melody and I are going to make him do the smolder...But anyway, enjoy and please review! :D**

_Chapter V – Of Nefarious Plans and Forced Alliances_

Gothel opened the Book of Limbo. **Hello.**

_Why, hello, Gothel. What brings you to us so early in the morning?_

**My daughter and the man got away.**

_Well, that is a problem. What can we do for you?_

**What can you do for me?**

_Hmm…Let us speak for a moment. _Gothel sighed impatiently. She didn't have much time. It was Rapunzel's birthday. This all had to happen before tonight, before the two went out onto the water…but that could hold the solution…Gothel began to think, feeding the strange people in the Book of her ideas. _That could work. Do you know where they are?_

**No.**

_Well…We will send our essences into your world right now, and you must take us with you wherever you go so we may act quickly and accordingly. Not all of us will go—only a few. Some need to stay here and guard, as well as not being much help in your particular situation. Ready?_

**Yes.**

Gothel dropped the book to the ground as it grew extremely hot, threatening to burn her fingers. Then she watched as the book turned icy and then a black fog began to rise from it—or was it black smoke? She couldn't tell if the mysterious substance was thick or misty—and she didn't dare pass her hand through it; who knows what would happen? However, as Gothel paid more attention to the blackness, she noticed that it seemed light and airy, and seemingly made of fog, not smoke. But then it started to spin, faster and faster and faster and faster. Spinning, whirling, condensing, expanding, then growing smaller and condensed again, losing matter but not mass, and then there was a bright, yet dark, flash of black light. The fog was now a glowing orb of light.

Gothel could almost hear whispers coming from the floating orb.

The light hovered a few feet above the ground, and then began to change again. It began twisting and twirling again, and turned into a solid object. It was a yellowish shell on a black cord. The necklace lingered in the air for a few seconds and then—_whoosh—_fell onto the ground. Gothel tentatively picked it up and held it in her hand, studying it carefully. When nothing spectacular happened, Gothel cautiously pulled the necklace over her head, letting it fall gently around her neck and onto her chest.

She knew that this was how the essences were going to come out and help her, so she had to protect this necklace at all costs. Gothel picked up the book, which had returned to a normal temperature, and began on her way.

She was glad that she had left the guards back at that chaos and mayhem. Gothel had stayed long enough to see who won and long enough to see that Rapunzel and Flynn Rider had gotten away. She had been furious—no, furious did not even describe the emotion she had felt upon knowing that her plan was slowly failing—not that she would admit that to anyone. Enraged, irate, fuming, et cetera.

Gothel knew deep down that there wasn't really any way to stop true love. Not that she would admit that her daughter and that criminal had _true love_. Ugh. There was no such thing as true love or love at first sight. _Especially _not after only two days.

But enough about Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. Gothel was sick of thinking about them. Of course, her entire course of life was about keeping the two of them apart. So far, she hadn't been successful. If Rapunzel fell in love with this scoundrel, then not only could she go to prison as an accomplice, but she would be separated from her mother! Gothel needed Rapunzel's hair more than air to breathe or food to eat. Literally. If Gothel hadn't had the power of the flower created by the drop of sunlight, she would have died long, _long_ ago. Hadn't it been a few hundred years since she first found the flower?

Blast those nose guards for finding her precious flower. But no matter; Gothel had gotten her precious flower back within a few days. Of course, now it was much more dangerous for Gothel to have her precious flower when the precious flower is the lost princess of the kingdom.

And especially when the precious flower is the lost princess of the kingdom who is looking for where she truly belongs. Damn.

Gothel sighed. She had a long way to go and little time to get there.

But then there was a rustle in the bushes on her right. Muted talking. Could it be those pesky guards?

A flash of long blonde hair and a giggle.

Gothel smiled and began to follow.

Rapunzel and Flynn Rider were walking through the forest toward the castle and the surrounding village. "Eugene," Rapunzel said. "I'm so excited for tonight! This is the best day ever!"

"Oh, yeah," Flynn said, slightly cringing at the sound of his birth name, "happy birthday, by the way."

Rapunzel's jaw dropped. "No one's ever said 'happy birthday' to me before! Well, of course, I've only ever lived with Mother, and she always said 'happy birthday', but I don't think that really counts. But, then again, it sort of does, so…"

"You're rambling again, Blondie," Flynn said, sincere but smiling.

"Was I?" she asked. "Sorry." Rapunzel smiled to herself. "Y'know, Eugene, you're my first friend! Well, other than Pascal. Pascal is my very best friend. I've known him almost as long as I can remember! But anyway, you are my very first other friend! And you're the first man I've ever met! I mean, I've read books so many times, they almost seem real, but I know that they're not. You're the first man I've ever met! There have been no other men in my life. It's always just been me and Mother."

"And your father," Flynn pointed out.

"No," Rapunzel corrected. "I've never had a father. I think I was born in the tower. Mother was by herself. Or that's how she tells it anyway."

"Everyone has a father, Goldie," Flynn said. "You probably just haven't met him."

"What do you mean 'everyone has a father'? Not everyone has a father. I don't."

"Blondie, you have a father. Trust me. It's kind of _necessary_ for everyone to have a father and a mother."

"What do you mean?"

Flynn stared at her. "You mean your mother never told you…she never…told you…about…" Rapunzel stared at him blankly. "You don't know…Oh, jeez. Never mind."

"What, Eugene?" Rapunzel asked.

"Well, _I'm_ not telling you. I'm leaving _that_ to your mother. You can ask her when you get home tomorrow. You know, after we see the lanterns and you escort me to the border like we planned."

"Oh, yes," Rapunzel said, suddenly sad. She'd clearly thought that he would have changed his mind now that they were friends. After all, she'd never had another friend before, other than Pascal. Apparently Eugene didn't care enough for their friendship to stay with her.

They walked in silence for a little while before Flynn said, "Are you okay, Blondie?"

"Yes," she said. Rapunzel offered no other words. The two continued in silence until they heard rustling in the bushes to their left. Each immediately stopped and looked.

Rapunzel expected a mean, scary, evil man to pop out and attack.

Flynn expected a rabbit.

Neither thought that a horse would come out. Especially one of the guard's horses. They had seen him at the battle the previous day. Rapunzel thought, _Aw! He's lost!_ Flynn thought, _Damn! I'm going to be arrested!_

Maximus was surprised and then turned angry. He knew that he could arrest Flynn Rider and go home! He looked like he was about to attack Flynn, so Rapunzel stepped in between the two. "Whoa!" she cried out. "You can't fight! Not today!" Maximus looked like he was ready to push her out of the way in order to get to Flynn Rider, so Rapunzel braced herself and took a peek at his nametag that was around his chest. "Look, Max," she said, shortening his name, "We need you to help us get to the castle as soon as possible. I know you want to arrest him, but just not for the next twenty-four hours! Then you can chase each other to your heart's content!"

Flynn seemed oddly pleased with the arrangement, so he stuck out his hand for a handshake. Maximus gruffly turned his head.

"And it also happens to be my birthday," Rapunzel said out of the corner of her mouth. "Just so you know…"

Max sighed and turned back toward Flynn and Rapunzel. He stuck out his hoof and gave a firm, yet brief, handshake.

"Good!" Rapunzel exclaimed. "Now, if we're going to reach the village in time for the lanterns tonight, we need to leave as soon as possible! Come on! Do you mind if we ride you, Max?" He seemed a little upset, but begrudgingly allowed her to put her hand on his back. "Um, Eugene, I've never ridden a horse before…I don't know how to get on."

Flynn stared at her. He climbed up onto Maximus, and then held his hand out to her. She smiled and took it. He pulled her up and she straddled the horse behind Flynn, wrapping her hands around his waist. All three, plus Pascal, making it four, looked down and saw all her hair on the ground. Rapunzel pulled it up and looped it around herself and Flynn in order to keep it in place and keep her from falling off.

Flynn thought this was extremely awkward, but didn't say anything so as not to hurt her feelings. He also couldn't help but feel a flurry in his stomach whenever she touched, and now he felt sick because her arms were around his waist. But in a good way.

Eugene Fitzherbert didn't understand these feelings. He had never felt this way about a girl before. But Flynn Rider knew exactly what was going on. The women were always after Flynn Rider's ruggedly dashing good looks. The man didn't know which personality he was right now.

Rapunzel was afraid for her life as Maximus trotted slowly and calmly through the woods, occasionally jumping over fallen logs. As she had never ridden a horse before, Rapunzel had no clue what it would be like. She had hoped it wouldn't be as nerve-wracking and painful as this. She was going to be sore tomorrow. Hopefully, it would be worth it.

Every so often, Rapunzel would feel as if someone were watching her. She would turn around and see nothing, but then would feel it again a few minutes later. But all nervous feelings disappeared as soon as they reached the edge of the forest and saw the lake and the moat surrounding the village that surrounded the castle. It was beautiful.

The sun was high in the sky and Rapunzel could hear music coming from the village. She could feel the happiness and excitement radiating from the place. Rapunzel knew that this really was going to be the best day ever. She was outside with her new (and old) best friends—now up to _three_! Rapunzel smiled widely and all but jumped off Max if Eugene and her hair hadn't been holding her in place. Sensing that Rapunzel wanted to get off the horse, Flynn carefully got Maximus to stop. No need to cause an argument over rough handling.

Rapunzel pulled her hair down and jumped off the horse, bare feet landing in grass. Sweet aromas of foods Rapunzel knew she had probably never even _heard_ of floated across the water toward her. Flynn jumped down and the four stared at the castle in the distance. They were all excited, and nervous. But mostly excited.

Rapunzel ran across the bridge, hair trailing behind her. She heard no footsteps behind her, so she stopped and turned to see Flynn and Max staying on the opposite bank. "Are you coming?" she called.

"I really don't want to get arrested!" Flynn called.

Rapunzel sighed. "You won't! Just come on!"

Flynn rolled his eyes and began walking toward Rapunzel. Max came up behind Flynn and pushed him out of the way. Flynn fell over, but caught himself before he hit the ground completely. Flynn grimaced and said quietly to himself, "If I'm nice, chances are better that he'll come to like me and not arrest me. So I'll be nice."

Max snorted as if he had heard Flynn's soft words. Flynn frowned, but his frown quickly turned upside down as he saw Rapunzel's reaction as she ran toward the castle.

He was excited for her. _Well, that's a first_, Flynn thought to himself. He knew that he had never truly cared about anyone but himself before. Eugene realized that he was sliding back into a childlike personality—the personality of Eugene Fitzherbert. He wasn't sure if he liked it; he _was_ Flynn Rider after all. But once he saw the expression on Rapunzel's face, Eugene knew that he was becoming Eugene Fitzherbert, and Eugene was quickly falling for Rapunzel.


	7. Waiting for the Lanterns

**Well, I'm here! Sorry for the wait! I had auditions this week for my school musical and was uber busy, but yesterday and today were finals, so I'm officially on Christmas break! On the plus side, I got cast as Marian Paroo in The Music Man in the musical! :) That's the female lead, by the way. But that also means that I'll be even busier when school starts back in January, so I'll be finishing this story (most likely) over the break.**

**Also, the descriptions of what's going on in the village in this are from other Disney movies (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and the Little Mermaid, respectively) that have village marketplace scenes. I was trying to incorporate some of that fun stuff in this. And end of this is what I was expecting to happen in the movie, but, of course, it didn't...This chapter is probably very similar to the movie, but the ending of it is a cliffie, and therefore sets the story up to be different than the movie...So, please review and enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled, or any other Disney movies, and especially not Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert! :'( I'm going to go cry in a corner now. Reviews will cheer me up! :)**

_Chapter VI – Waiting for the Lanterns_

Rapunzel led Flynn Rider and Maximus into the city. She ran far ahead, letting her hair fall behind her. Unfortunately, Rapunzel wasn't paying that much attention, allowing people to walk all over her hair and make it dirty. Fortunately, she quickly realized this, as did Flynn, and the two worked together to gather seventy feet of hair in their arms.

The two quickly looked around for a solution. Flynn saw them first—four little girls who were sitting in a line, braiding each others' hair. Flynn whistled to get their attention. They immediately turned and gasped upon seeing Rapunzel's hair. They ran over and began to braid as soon as Flynn and Rapunzel dropped the hair.

It only took about ten or fifteen minutes with all four girls braiding for Rapunzel's hair to be wrapped in a long plait that reached a few inches off the ground. The girls placed flowers in her hair sporadically so it was even more beautiful. Rapunzel thanked the girls and then they ran off. Rapunzel twirled around a few times and was able to look at all the decorations placed around the village in celebration of the lost princess' birthday.

There were purple banners with the golden sunflower on it everywhere. The villagers were milling about, getting the day's work done before celebrating. There was a man walking around with a wheelbarrow full of pumpkins, a man selling bread and rolls ("Marie! The baguettes! Hurry up!"), people gossiping, a boy chasing a pig (and then the pig chasing the boy), people getting their hair cut (Rapunzel couldn't help but wish she could, too), horses leading carts, people buying meat, a woman hitting her husband over the head with a rolling pin, a woman trying to buy eggs with five children hanging on her. There were guards chasing a thief holding a loaf of bread (Flynn couldn't help but wonder, _Do I know him? These guards are pretty strict in the actual town…_), who grabbed a sword from a guard who had just fallen over ("He's got a sword!" "You idiot! We've all got swords!"), but then dropped it and ran past a smelly cart with a sign that read: 'Crazy Hakico's Discount Fertilizer'. There was a man pushing a cart full of chickens that he was trying to sell, a small stage with two puppets (one had a bat and was hitting the other), and so much more. Rapunzel had a hard time turning her head fast enough to see everything before it disappeared.

She could blink and miss it. Literally.

Rapunzel and Flynn passed everything: book shops, taverns (much nicer than the Snuggly Duckling, even if they had friends at the thug's hangout), bread shops, meat shops, tailors, and so much more than Rapunzel could have possibly imagined. Every once in a while, the two would have to duck out of sight in order to keep Flynn from being seen by the guards.

They hid in a doorway and in an alley a couple of different times.

Rapunzel got to try many new things that she never had before, and then some things that she had made or seen before. And she was overwhelmed by the number of people. It was almost unnerving.

"Have you ever seen so many people in your life, Eugene?" she asked.

"Well, actually," Eugene Fitzherbert answered, "yeah. This is where I grew up. Most people are accustomed to other people. You're just special."

"You grew up here?" Rapunzel asked, obviously dumbfounded. "I thought you grew up in an orphanage!"

Eugene frowned. "Well, yeah, but I grew up in this village, watching the lanterns go up every year."

"That's so…amazing!" Rapunzel exclaimed. "I wish I could've grown up here! It's so exciting! But I feel sort of crowded! There are just so many people! I feel like the world is sort of closing in on me! I feel…"

Rapunzel didn't know what to say, so Flynn filled in: "Claustrophobic."

"Yeah! If that's what I was describing."

Eugene laughed. "It was. Why don't we go back to the center of town and see what's going on?" It was nearly dusk, and the lanterns would be going up to the sky soon.

"But you'll get arrested!" Rapunzel cried.

"Not if we're careful," he assured her. "The festivities will be starting soon, and I want you to have a good birthday." Eugene noticed that he just said 'I want you', and that was _very_ unselfish, especially for him. Flynn Rider was changing, and Eugene Fitzherbert knew it.

"Thanks, Eugene," Rapunzel said. "Let's go! I'm having so much fun! Are you having fun? This is the _best day ever! _It's the best birthday ever! I can't believe Mother didn't ever want me to leave the tower, except for yesterday! Nobody here even cares about my hair! Nobody wants my hair! Oh, this is just so fun!"

Eugene smiled and Rapunzel's naivety and how high her voice could get when she was excited.

The two rushed back to the square, where people were really partying. People were dancing to the music provided by a few people playing stringed instruments. Rapunzel ran out to join them. Flynn sat down against a stone wall and watched with a smile on his face. Pascal was watching, too, but also watching Flynn to make sure he behaved. Max leaned down to Flynn and wagged his eyebrows suggestively. Flynn promptly pushed Max's face away, and scowled. But that scowl quickly turned into another smile when he looked back at Rapunzel.

Pascal licked the inside of Flynn's ear to get the man's attention. Flynn jumped, gasped loudly, and very nearly shouted in shock, but thankfully didn't. However, Flynn did look at Pascal, who pointed his tail meaningfully at Rapunzel, who was dancing with some little girls. Eugene thought she looked beautiful. Flynn shook his head. "I'm much happier here," he said to the chameleon, who rolled his eyes.

Flynn looked back at the dancing crowd. Rapunzel ran over and grabbed Eugene's hands, pulling him up off the ground and over to the center of the dance floor. She began to dance with him and him with her.

Rapunzel was shocked at how good a dancer Flynn Rider was. "You should've said that you were a good dancer!"

"No, I'm not," he answered automatically.

"Yes, you are," Rapunzel said.

There were partner couples everywhere, but the quickly broke up as everyone began clapping their hands to the music and forming large circles of dancers. Rapunzel had never had so much fun in her life as she was having now. Eugene felt the same way.

Not long after the circle was formed, Eugene heard someone say, "The lanterns are going up in half an hour!" People cheered.

"Come on," Eugene said to Rapunzel, pulling her away. "Let's go find a good spot to watch the lanterns."

"I thought you didn't really want to," she said, shocked that he cared that much.

"I changed my mind. I think the whole day has changed my mind." _And quite possibly you have changed it, too_, he added to himself. "Come on," he smiled.

Rapunzel returned the smile and followed him because Eugene seemed to know where he was going. As they walked side by side, Rapunzel felt a hollow feeling in her stomach, and she knew it wasn't from hunger. She had eaten so much that day, she thought she would burst. Rapunzel knew that it had something to do with a certain four letter word. Rapunzel did the only thing she could: she gathered up all her courage and grabbed Eugene's hand.

She refused to look up at him, but felt him look down at her in shock. Both were glad that she had made the first move. They soon reached the docks and Rapunzel sat with Max and Pascal at the edge of it, dipping her toes into the water, while Flynn disappeared. He returned shortly and led Rapunzel onto a boat, leaving the horse and chameleon friends behind. Flynn saw the disheartened looks on their faces, and tossed a bag of apples back to the dock.

Max looked at them suspiciously, but Flynn rolled his eyes and called, "I paid for those!" And more softly, "Well, almost all of them…"

Rapunzel giggled. She looked at the stars in the sky, heart leaping with anticipation, as Flynn rowed the boat out to the center of the lake. "Why are we out here?" she asked brightly.

"Well, if we're going to watch the lanterns for your birthday," he said slowly, "we might as well have the best seat in the house."

"But we're not in a house!"

"It's an expression."

Silence.

Anticipation.

Nervousness.

They sat for a while, neither saying anything. Rapunzel stared at the sky expectantly. Eugene stared at Rapunzel. Her large, green eyes flicked down toward him and he hastily looked away, embarrassed. As soon as she looked back up at the dark, starry sky, Eugene looked back at Rapunzel.

And then they saw the first lantern. A beacon of light and life and love in the dark sky.

Rapunzel quickly stood up and almost knocked the boat over. Eugene immediately got the boat steady again, trying to keep this night perfect.

More lanterns appeared, and Rapunzel was ecstatic. They floated out across the water and some even landed close to the boat. Rapunzel leaned over and touched one, knocking it back up into the air. She looked back at Eugene and saw that he had two in his hands. He offered one to her and she took it. Following his lead, she thrust it back into the air, watching it float up and away. She lowered her eyes, and they met his.

Rapunzel felt as if her whole life had just been changed. She had been locked away, but now she was free, and—she couldn't help but think it—in love.

Eugene felt as if his whole life had just been changed. He had lived a life of thievery and deceit, but now he was free, and—he couldn't help but think it—in love.

They had seen the light, and it was the like the fog was lifted. They had seen the light, and it was like the sky was new. And everything was warm and real and bright, and the world had somehow shifted. All at once, everything was different, now that _I see you_.

Eugene took her hands and looked into her eyes. They each began to lean in, closing their eyes. But then the moment was broken as the boat was tipped and they were thrown into the lake.

Eugene immediately popped back up to the surface, treading water in order to stay afloat, but saw no sign of Rapunzel. Rapunzel opened her eyes under the water—_it burned!_—and felt herself being pulled down by the weight of her hair. The braid was coming undone in places and the weight of seventy feet of hair was pulling her to the bottom. She stuck her hands up toward what she thought was the sky, struggling to go up. She had never been completely submerged in water before, but Rapunzel had heard of what she knew was happening. Drowning. There was a burn in her lungs like nothing else she had experienced. Rapunzel knew that she needed air. Her vision became spotty and she began to feel lightheaded. Soon, there was blackness.

Eugene became worried. Where was she? "Rapunzel!" he cried. "Rapunzel!" He quickly dove beneath the surface, using the lantern light from above as a guide. He saw her sinking because of the weight of her hair. He went back up for another lungful of air, and then dove back down into the water. He quickly grabbed her arms and pulled her up to the surface. She was unconscious. Flynn Rider quickly took hold of the situation and started swimming toward the bank opposite the village. This was not an easy feat fully clothed and toting another human being who just happened to have seventy feet of heavy, wet hair.

Flynn swam as fast as he could. He reached the side of the lake as quickly as he could. As soon as he climbed up on shore, he dragged Rapunzel up behind him and laid her gently on the ground. He tilted her head up to the side to drain some of the water that filled her mouth. She wasn't breathing. Eugene quickly began pressing on her chest, hoping to get some of the water out of her lungs. Without thinking, he lowered his lips to hers and exhaled. _Some first kiss_, he thought, deciding not to mention this to her. He pressed on her chest some more, and thankfully, Rapunzel began to cough and water began coming out of her mouth.

"Thank you for saving me!" Rapunzel exclaimed. "Oh, my…you saved my life!"

"It was no big deal," Eugene lied, trying to get his heart rate down. He had almost had a heart attack from worry about her dying.

"Thank you, Eug—oh," Rapunzel said, eyes widening as she saw something behind Eugene.

"What is—" Eugene asked, turning around, but cut off as he saw the figures of Gothel and about ten guards looming behind them. "Damn."


	8. Lost in the Darkness

**Well, this isn't a very exciting chapter, but it's important and it's depressing. You've been warned. There's also a major cliffie. So enjoy that! I'll try and update on Tuesday. I think I'm seeing Tangled and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader tomorrow, so I probably won't update tomorrow, but you never know. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled (or the tiny Aladdin reference). And I don't own Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert. :'(**

**Hey y'all! Let's try and hit 100 reviews by Christmas! It would make such a wonderful Christmas present! So please review and enjoy! :)**

_Chapter VII – Lost in the Darkness_

Rapunzel and Eugene looked up at Gothel and the guards, doom evident in their eyes. Gothel smirked maliciously and carefully patted the shell necklace that graced her upper chest. The dark seemed to be filled with a green light that came from the bright yellow lanterns and the murky black water and the shadowy navy blue sky.

Eugene took Rapunzel's hand and squeezed it gently. Rapunzel returned the motion, but didn't let go, holding his hand as tightly as she possibly could. Rapunzel had never felt fear like this, had never felt as sad as she knew she was bound to feel. Rapunzel knew that she and Eugene would be separated.

"You may have him, boys," Gothel said cruelly, still smirking that evil smile. The guards moved toward Flynn Rider, who grimaced and squeezed Rapunzel's hand so hard that both their hands hurt.

"Flynn Rider, you are under arrest for theft, kidnapping, attempted murder…" The charges went on and on. Rapunzel was shocked at the number of things that he had done, and was slightly afraid of him, but as she felt his hand in his, felt his fingers interlaced between hers, and remembered the memory of their would-be kiss, she knew that she wasn't afraid of him because he wasn't Flynn Rider; he was Eugene Fitzherbert. Rapunzel wasn't in love with Flynn Rider; she was in love with Eugene Fitzherbert.

It was an odd thing to feel—love. Rapunzel hadn't felt it for anyone, save her mother, and Rapunzel wasn't even sure that she loved her mother all that much anymore. _That's a wicked thing to say,_ she told herself. _Even if it might be true that your mother was overprotective for your entire life, but she's only trying to keep you safe from the dangerous world—But it's not that dangerous!—So what if it's not? Just look at all the things Flynn has done! He's a dangerous person!—But I'm not in love with Flynn, I'm in love with Eugene!_ Rapunzel thought she was silly for arguing with herself, but didn't show it. She was too distressed at the sight of her beloved in chains as his crimes were read to him.

The guards pulled Flynn up to a standing position and his hand was yanked away from hers. Rapunzel's hand felt cold, empty, and alone—much like herself. Tears filled her eyes and she didn't even realize she was still watching them until they were at least a hundred feet away. She only had eyes for Eugene, whose head and eyes were still fixed upon her, even though he was walking away. As soon as Rapunzel realized that she was being left behind, she began to run after, the sticks and stones poking and injuring her bare feet.

Rapunzel didn't get very far—she was still many paces away—when she felt a bony hand grab her arm and yank her back. Rapunzel cried out as she fell and hit the ground. Her back landed among the sticks and stones, and her head against the dirt. She laid there in shock for a few seconds before realizing that she needed to keep moving. But as soon as she stood up, the hand was upon her arm again, gripping her arm so tightly that Rapunzel was sure it would leave a bruise.

She looked at her captor; it was her mother. Tears began to slip down Rapunzel's cheeks and she shouted, "How dare you? Let me go after him!"

"My dear, sweet child! He was going to hurt you! That man was a wanted criminal! The guards told me everything that he had done to other people," Gothel lied, "and you were his next victim. That man was going to hurt you and then kill you in ways that you wouldn't even imagine possible."

Rapunzel was sobbing. "No, he wasn't! He—I—we—He wasn't going to harm me! He's my friend! I really like him! I think he likes me, too! Let me go with him, Mother!"

"And let you rot in jail? Certainly not!" Gothel said. "Don't even think about him anymore, darling. He'll be dead as the sun rises."

"What?" Rapunzel asked, taken aback.

"For all those crimes, he'll be hanged at sunrise."

This news forced Rapunzel into harder sobs. She knew she was just as much a prisoner as he was; only she wouldn't die.

"Come, darling, let's go home," Gothel said. She began to walk through the forest with her sobbing daughter.

Rapunzel followed blindly. She didn't want to think of anything, didn't want to say anything, didn't want to do anything. They reached the tower more quickly than it had taken Rapunzel and Eugene to get away. Gothel must have known her way through the forest expertly.

They climbed the tower through the dark, stone base. Rapunzel allowed her mother to undo what was left of the braid, and pull out all the flowers. She was still unfeeling, uncaring.

"There," Gothel said, dropping the last flower into the rubbish bin. "Now we can forget the entire thing happened."

Rapunzel said nothing. Gothel sighed, and left the bedroom, leaving Rapunzel sitting on the bed alone. Rapunzel carefully pulled the purple flag out of her bodice. She unrolled it and stared at it. As she gazed at it, Rapunzel felt as if it should mean something more important than it did. She knew that it meant something; she just didn't know what. She sighed, and tucked the flag back into her bodice. A tear dripped onto Rapunzel's hand.

She cautiously stood and walked down the small staircase to the main room of the tower. She saw her mother fiddling with the shell necklace. Clearly, Gothel didn't know that Rapunzel was watching.

Rapunzel saw a small orb of light come from the shell and move slowly toward the window. As Gothel's eyes followed the orb, Rapunzel ducked behind an armchair, knowing that Gothel's eyes would soon come across her. The orb of light flew out the window and lowered to the ground. Rapunzel saw a flash of light and then heard a monstrous noise. It was a roar.

Rapunzel saw something out of the window. It was getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. It was black and had some iridescent purple scales. Then the thing reared back and shot a fireball into the sky. Rapunzel gasped. She had only read of these things in books; she had never thought that they might be real. It was a dragon.

And it was then that Rapunzel knew that her mother was into black magic. Whatever that shell on the necklace was, it was dangerous, and it was the source of all her mother's power. Rapunzel knew that she had to somehow get that shell and destroy it before her mother did something even worse.

Gothel walked to the window. She smiled at the dragon, who sneered back. Gothel called up, "Rapunzel! Come here!"

Rapunzel stood as soon as Gothel turned around and then walked over. "Yes, Mother?"

"I'm going out," Gothel said cruelly. "But don't even think of trying to esc—leave. You have a new guard." Rapunzel looked out the window and saw the huge black dragon in all its glory. "And I will know if you leave. Now, let down your hair!"

Rapunzel looked frightfully out the window, but did as Gothel said. As soon as Gothel reached the ground, Rapunzel pulled her hair back in the tower and went up to her room. She attempted to braid her hair as it had been, and she wept.

Flynn Rider allowed himself to be tossed into his prison cell. There was a tiny window on the far side, but no light flowed in. Of course not; it was the dead of night. Eugene Fitzherbert rested against the stone wall and stared at the opposite side of the small room. The wooden door was closed and locked; there was no chance of escape. But to what purpose? Any escaping would just lead to more imprisonment.

Eugene knew that Rapunzel was being held captive by Gothel. There was no way that Gothel would allow Rapunzel to leave the tower again, especially if she wanted to remain young. Rapunzel had not been bothered by Gothel's perverted and obsessive use of her hair, but Eugene had seen what Gothel really was: a power-hungry old witch who was thriving off of Rapunzel's magic.

As soon as Eugene was released—_if_ he was ever released—he was going to go straight to the library or city records and find all missing babies from around the time that Rapunzel was born. There was no way that Gothel was Rapunzel's real mother. No real mother would use her daughter like that.

Of course, the most popular missing girl was the lost princess. And then it hit Eugene like a ton of bricks. He had seen pictures and mosaics and paintings of the lost princess throughout his entire life—why didn't he realize until now?

There was no way that Rapunzel _wasn't_ the lost princess. They were exactly the same age. They both had blonde hair and large, green eyes. The princess had been kidnapped by an old witch, and Rapunzel had been locked in a tower by a young woman. The evil women were most likely the same.

Eugene knew that he had his ticket out of the prison, but how could he make the guards believe? All they saw in here was Flynn Rider—not Eugene Fitzherbert—and Flynn Rider was a compulsive liar. Eugene Fitzherbert did not exist to them, no matter what he said or did or shouted out to the world. Eugene Fitzherbert was a made up tale from a compulsive liar.

The time passed slowly, and yet quickly at the same time, as Eugene mulled over these depressing thoughts. He knew that death was the only way out of this prison cell.

But then the door opened. Lantern light flooded the pitch black room. Two guards stood in the doorway. "Come on, Rider. You have an audience with the King himself."

Flynn stood and realized that this must be important if the King himself was going to see a common thief like Flynn Rider. The guards put the shackles around Flynn's wrists so he couldn't escape. They each had a hand on his arm as they escorted him down the hall and to the throne room, where the King and Queen were waiting.

Both monarchs looked exhausted. It was their daughter's eighteenth birthday after all. The Queen was pacing, and the King was slouching in his chair, half asleep. When the doors banged open, the King sat up straight and the Queen paused, but then walked to her throne and sat.

Flynn was brought to the center of the large room and was left there with the guards still attached to his arms. He looked to the floor, not wanting to look at the parents of the woman he loved—if she even was the lost princess, and he was almost positive she was.

"Flynn Rider," the King's deep voice boomed, echoing throughout the vast hall, "Do you know why you're here at this ungodly hour?"

Eugene hesitated, not wanting to make them angry, but not wanting to accept his fate either. Finally, he spoke up, "Because I stole things and kidnapped a young girl, who was being held captive by her own mother."

The monarchs seemed to ignore the bitterness in his voice. They assumed that he would be upset about his death.

Eugene was now too upset to shut up. "And for the record, I only stole what I couldn't afford, even if that was everything!"

"But our daughter's crown?" the Queen interjected angrily.

"I was hoping to get out of the kingdom and start over somewhere else," Flynn said quietly. "But now…now, I would never do that."

"And why is that?" the King asked.

"Because…Because I fell in love," Eugene said, more to himself than to the King.

"Touching," the King replied sarcastically. "Flynn Rider, you will be hanged at dawn for your crimes. It will be a public affair to set an example for other thieves in the area. Enjoy your last night of life. Take him away!" he bellowed.

"Wait!" Eugene shouted as he was dragged off. "I know where your daughter is!"

"Get him out of my sight!" the King shouted angrily, ignoring Flynn's pleas for time to explain.

"Wait, dear," the Queen said softly. "Just listen to him!"

"I can't, dear," the King said sadly. "I just can't listen to him spread lies about our precious daughter."

"Her name is Rapunzel!" Eugene shouted. "She was the girl I kidnapped! Well, not really! We had a deal. Her mother had locked her in a tower her whole life and all Rapunzel wanted was to be free! She did nothing wrong her entire life, except want to see the floating lanterns gleam!"

"Do you hear these lies? They're outrageous!" the King said to his Queen, then shouted, "Shut up! Get out of here! You die at sunrise, Rider!"

Eugene shouted his head off about Rapunzel all the way back to his prison cell, hoping that the King and Queen would hear and listen, or _anyone_ would hear and listen and explain to the King and the Queen that their daughter was in danger right now.

_Oh, Rapunzel_, Eugene thought to himself, _I'm so sorry. I've let you down. I should've tried harder to make your family remember or even believe me. I've ruined you, and I've ruined me. I've ruined us both, and I've ruined our chance to ever be together again._

If Eugene Fitzherbert hadn't had some Flynn Rider left in him, he probably would have wept. There was just something about losing the one you love that makes one cry.

When he reached his cell, Eugene slumped against the wall, with his legs spread out against the floor and his head in his hands. He felt as if he were a failure.

Eugene knew that dawn was coming more quickly than he wanted. There was nothing more that he wanted except for more time with Rapunzel. He wanted to kiss her and tell her loved her and kiss her some more. He just wanted time to talk, time to laugh, time to love. There was never enough time.

The room was beginning to brighten. The walls were a stony yellowish brown color. The sunlight was coming into the room more quickly now. And then the door opened again.

Flynn Rider was put into chains once more, and was marched through the halls of the prison. He passed a cell and saw the Stabbington Brothers. Flynn glared at them, and was glad that they had been caught. They would probably die, too.

The sunlight was unbearable after so long in the dark. Flynn was marched through the crowd of people and up onto the gallows. A hood was fitted over his head, enclosing once more into darkness. He felt the noose be placed around his neck.

And then there was a scream.


	9. An Act of Defiance

**So this is significantly shorter than the last one, but I wanted to update today...I saw Dawn Treader and Tangled yesterday! VDT was okay, but Tangled rocks again!**

**Random book recommendation: Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers-these books freakin' rock. Nuff said.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it at all. :'( Though I will meet Flynn Rider in person in April cuz I'm going to DISNEY! :D**

**Oh, and y'all rock for breaking 100 reviews! Let's go for 150 by the time this story is over (which will be in 3 or 4 chapters! D: ) So please enjoy and review! :)**

_Chapter VIII – An Act of Defiance_

Rapunzel cried and cried and cried until she could cry no more. Her eyes felt raw and they hurt from all the weeping. She had never cried so much in her life. Rapunzel lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She saw all the murals she had ever painted. She saw all the memories that she had and all the memories she had made up from a lack of anything in her life.

And then Rapunzel realized that there _was_ something that she could do to rebel. Sure, there was no way she could leave the tower without getting burnt to a crisp by that awfully enormous dragon. But Rapunzel could show how much she loved Eugene. She stood from her bed, lit some lanterns, and walked over to the trunk where she kept her paint and brushes. Rapunzel pulled out a neutral color and began to paint over part of the walls, eventually covering more space than she had realized.

No matter. What Rapunzel planned to do was epic. Epic, and would most definitely anger her mother. Rapunzel smiled with glee and rebellion. She picked up another brush and began to paint everything that had happened over the last two days.

She painted the tower, with Flynn Rider climbing it. She painted her whacking Flynn over the head with the frying pan. She painted the smolder—well, as close as she could possibly get it. She painted the escape from the tower. She painted the two of them hiding in the trees. She painted the Snuggly Duckling. She painted the thugs. She painted the forest battle. She painted the cave, with her hair glowing. She painted the two of them at the campfire. She painted them with Maximus. She painted the castle and the surrounding village. She painted the dancing and the running and the hiding in the village. She painted the lanterns in the sky. She painted the two of them on the boat.

And then she painted the most rebellious thing of all. Rapunzel painted herself and Eugene almost kissing. Her mother would certainly kill her.

Rapunzel was having too much fun with this to stop, though. She went downstairs and began painting golden suns, outlined with a thick line of purple. The suns covered everything. She painted them on the furniture, the wardrobe, anywhere that would make her mother the angriest.

But as she painted the suns, Rapunzel realized that the suns were already everywhere in the room. They were made of flowers and people and other things that formed the outer shape of the sun. Rapunzel gasped. She knew that she had been doing this subconsciously her entire life. _It must mean something..._she thought to herself.

But she didn't know what. Rapunzel stopped painting and looked around. Where was Pascal? Rapunzel didn't see him anywhere. Then she realized that Pascal hadn't been on the boat with her; he had stayed on the dock with Maximus. _Well,_ she thought, _at least he's safe with Max. He won't know how to get back, but Max could probably help him._

Something bright and orange-gold caught her eye—fire lighting the dark sky. Rapunzel spun toward the window. The dragon was breathing fire outside! Rapunzel ran to the window and saw the dragon fire at something on the ground. Rapunzel couldn't really tell who it was, only it wasn't Gothel, and it wasn't the guards. And there were many people!

Then she saw the horse. Max and Pascal had gotten help and they were rescuing her!

The dragon roared and blew more fire at the people and animals. Rapunzel quickly ran back to her room and began to gather her things. The rescuers would need as much help as possible.

Rapunzel hastily grabbed the purple flag and her frying pan. She ran back down the stairs and swung her hair over the hook, but was distracted by the tile in the floor coming up and Gothel reappearing. Rapunzel gasped and barely kept herself from screaming at the sight of her mother. Gothel took one look around and said, "Were you bored, darling? Don't worry, Mother isn't angry—she's furious. How did you get people to come help you? Those thugs out there won't get past the dragon and, even if they do, how are they going to get up here?"

"Uh, the same way you just did, Mother," Rapunzel said.

"Not if it's been blocked off and hidden. I'm not stupid, Rapunzel," Gothel said. "Come, sing to me."

"No!"

"No?" Gothel asked, obviously surprised by her daughter's defiance. "Oh, please, Rapunzel. What are you going to do?"

"You've been abusing my power and only using it for yourself! You kept me up in this tower for my whole life because people would use my hair selfishly, but I failed to see that you are the most selfish of all—you locked me up here so _no one else could use it but you!_ I'm not stupid, either, Mother!"

"Oh, please, Rapunzel. Come here."

"No!"

"Come here!"

"No!"

"Fine," Gothel said extremely angrily. "But you are never leaving this tower again!"

Rapunzel's eyes caught the shell on her mother's neck. The shell. The shell that had all the dark power and black magic. The shell. Rapunzel slowly began to inch toward her mother. But then something in her cracked. Rapunzel charged her mother with her hands extended toward Gothel's neck. Gothel screamed as she was tackled to the ground. Rapunzel grabbed at the necklace, but it burned hot in her hand. Rapunzel cried out in pain, surprised that the necklace would be harmful to the touch. But that didn't stop Rapunzel from trying to pull it off again.

Gothel fought back. The two women began to struggle against each other. Gothel tried to get out from under Rapunzel, and Rapunzel tried to keep Gothel from harming her while she tried to get the necklace. Rapunzel yanked at the cord of the necklace. It wouldn't come off! Rapunzel pulled at it some more, and finally the necklace broke off. Rapunzel got up and ran across the room. Gothel fought to get up, but she was older and not as lithe and quick as Rapunzel. Gothel did the only thing she could; she grabbed Rapunzel's hair.

"Ah!" Rapunzel cried as her hair was yanked back. Rapunzel fell backward to the floor. She tried to get up, but Gothel stepped on her hair, keeping Rapunzel on the ground. Rapunzel wasn't giving in that easily, though. She writhed and twisted, trying to get out from under Gothel's heeled boot. Rapunzel kept her hand firmly around the shell, even though it was burning her.

Finally, a weapon caught Rapunzel's eye—the frying pan. She could crush the shell with the frying pan, and hope that the dark magic would disappear, as would the dragon. She squirmed toward it, but Gothel laughed and pulled Rapunzel's hair with her hands. Rapunzel struggled more, trying to get the frying pan with her toes and pull it toward her. No such luck. Gothel was able to kick the frying pan across the room.

Then Rapunzel saw him. Pascal had scaled the wall and was slinking across the floor toward the frying pan. He pushed the frying pan to Rapunzel, but Gothel saw and kicked both Pascal and the frying pan across the room. Pascal hit the wall and lay on the floor, motionless.

"Pascal!" Rapunzel screamed. He made no response. She continued struggling with her mother, but Gothel grabbed the frying pan. She raised it and hit Rapunzel over the head with it. Blackness.

When Rapunzel came to, she was sitting in the chair with her hair wrapped around her as rope. She struggled against her bonds, but the hair was tied too tight. Pascal, too, was tied up using a thin strand of hair. Rapunzel tried to move her hands, but it was too tight! There was no way out!

Gothel was nowhere in sight. Pascal was able to slither out of his hair and began unraveling Rapunzel's hair. As soon as she was free, Rapunzel ran to the window. The dragon was gone, but Maximus and a few of the thugs from the Snuggly Duckling were still there. Rapunzel smiled, grabbing Pascal as she began to lower herself down from the tower, with the frying pan in one hand and her hair in the other.

As soon as she hit the ground, Rapunzel ran to the thugs. Only two were left—Hook Hand and Big Nose. "We waited for you, but sent the others ahead to free Rider," the pianist said.

"Thank you!" Rapunzel said. She climbed up onto Max's back, with some of Pascal's help, and they darted off into the forest. The thugs had their own horses and were following closely. Max now knew the fastest possible way through the forest. He led the way through the woods and to the long bridge into the forest. They raced through the village, where they saw no one. "Where is everyone?" Rapunzel pondered aloud.

Max whinnied as if he knew the answer and ran even faster, if that was possible. He ran through the crowds of people. The sun was rising and Rapunzel saw the executioner place the noose around Eugene's neck. He began to tighten it, and Rapunzel slid off of Max's back. She bumped into a woman, who turned toward her, and upon seeing the dangerous-looking thugs, screamed.

This initiated mass chaos.

The thugs leapt into action. They began to fight with the guards; all that was heard was screaming and the clashing and clanging of metal upon metal. The executioner panicked and pulled the lever to drop the floor out from under Flynn Rider. Rapunzel screamed and ran as fast as she could through the crowd and toward the gallows. She bounded up the steps, two at a time, and pulled out the dagger that Hook Hand had given her. Rapunzel cut the rope, allowing Eugene to fall to the ground, under the gallows. She dropped down the hole and pulled her hair down.

She panicked, and quickly loosened the noose and pulled it from around Eugene's neck. She gently pulled the hood off of his head and was glad to see that he was, indeed, alive, if not a little dizzy and disoriented. "Oh, Eugene!" she exclaimed.

"Rapunzel!" he breathed, inhaling deeply now that there was not a musty bag over his head and a rope around his neck. Eugene Fitzherbert was glad to be alive. "You saved me!"

"So we're even!" she laughed, breathing easier now that he was speaking to her. Rapunzel laughed again, and Eugene joined her.

For a minute, Rapunzel thought he was going to kiss her, but they were interrupted by the not-so-subtle reminders that there was a battle raging above and around, even though they couldn't see it. Rapunzel and Eugene stood carefully, so as not to bang their heads on the wood above.

Eugene poked his head out of the hole and saw that the platform was deserted, but the ground surrounding was a battlefield between the thugs and the guards. "There's no easy way out."

"I figured as much," Rapunzel said. "Let's just get up, and I can toss my hair up and away so we can swing out of here and find more help."

"If you say so," Eugene said, climbing out of the hole and pulling her up. They stood on the platform for a few seconds as Rapunzel tossed her hair up around a balcony. She wrapped her arm around his waist and swung the two of them off the platform.

They didn't quite reach the balcony, hitting the ground, but they were able to run from the guards who noticed them getting away and followed in pursuit. Rapunzel and Eugene reached Maximus and quickly climbed up onto his back. Eugene took the reins and Rapunzel held onto his waist for dear life.

As soon as they were away from the castle and into the woods, they began to laugh hysterically.

"I can't believe we did that!" Rapunzel said.

"Me neither," Eugene agreed.

"I feel bad for leaving the thugs to fight for us, but they told me to leave with you and they would get out somehow," Rapunzel said, her voice full of pain and remorse.

"I wouldn't worry about them. But you do realize that you're now a wanted fugitive. They'll arrest you for helping me escape from prison, evading execution, and also for being an accomplice?"

"Then we shouldn't get caught!" Rapunzel laughed nervously.

"You can say that again."

"Then we shouldn't get caught!"

"It's an expression."

"Oh."

And so they rode on, unaware that danger was following.


	10. The Danger That Followed

**Merry Christmas! Even if that is a little late...Sorry that this is nearly a week late! My grandparents came, and since I'm supposed to be with them at ALL times, I couldn't get on my computer until it was like 11:30, and then I was really tired...So here this is. Random fact: I FINALLY got the Tangled, Deathly Hallows, and Dawn Treader albums! My life is complete! :D**

**Oh, and I will be posting the next and final chapter today. I decided that I was milking this long enough. Really, I would have ended this story at the previous chapter, but I was trying for 20,000 words. Fortunately, I'm there. Plus, I had a great idea for a Tangled/Narnia crossover that I hope you all will be interested in! I'll hopefully post the first chapter today and see if people are interested. But keep watching for the next and final chapter of THIS story. It should be posted by 2 o'clock at the latest. I hope...**

**Disclaimer: I didn't get the rights to Tangled for Christmas. Santa just wasn't cool like that. However, I did get a Tangled coloring book from my best friend! She knows me so well! :) Please enjoy and review! :)**

_Chapter IX – The Danger That Followed_

Rapunzel, Eugene, Pascal, and Maximus raced through the forest as fast as Max possibly could, until they were far enough away to rest and make a camp for the night. Eugene built a small fire, Rapunzel helped (more like watched while carrying one piece of wood at a time), Pascal watched the two disdainfully with the mindset of 'I'm going to stop them if they try anything', and Maximus guarded the surrounding area. While Max didn't completely trust Flynn, he didn't hate him either, especially because he liked Rapunzel and Rapunzel seemed to like and trust him.

Once the fire was built, the four sat around and talked, rationing out the small amount of food that Rapunzel had managed to grab before her escape. They talked of everything and nothing, getting to know each other. Eugene found out how Pascal and Rapunzel met ("It was a stormy night, and Pascal crept into my room because he was scared…okay, fine, _I_ was scared by the storm and he scared me when I saw him in the kitchen…"), Rapunzel heard about life in the orphanage ("It sucked. End of story."), and everyone heard about what exactly had happened to Rapunzel and Eugene once they were separated.

They listened to each other intently until Rapunzel's eyelids were drooping and Pascal was snoring, then they realized that it was probably very late and they should go to sleep. Eugene took the first watch, with Max planning to take over in a few hours. There was no way they were going to get caught this time.

Unfortunately, they were being watched. While Eugene was paying attention to their surroundings, he didn't realize that someone had followed them all the way and was waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

Eugene stared at the fire, ears attentive, fingers picking apart pieces of grass out of sheer boredom. The ground was littered with pieces of broken grass among the live and growing pieces. Eugene picked up another blade of grass…1…2…3…4…The time passed slowly.

It seemed even slower because he was nervous and—dare he admit it?—somewhat afraid. Not necessarily afraid for himself, but afraid for Rapunzel. He didn't want Gothel to find her and—wait. She was the lost princess! He had to tell her!

"Rapunzel," he whispered, desperately trying not to wake Maximus or Pascal. Heaven knows what the two animals would do if they found out that Rapunzel was the lost princess. Not that they wouldn't find out anyway sooner or later. "Rapunzel," he repeated, standing, walking to her, and kneeling beside her. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him. "We need to talk."

Rapunzel sat up and whispered, "Can't it wait until morning?"

"No," he said slowly. "Do you…you don't know…I found…What I'm trying to say is, I found out about you and…the lost princess. I don't know how to say this. I guess I'll just be blunt. You're the lost princess."

"What?" she asked suspiciously. Rapunzel was shocked. How could he make such a huge discovery and not tell her immediately!

"You're the lost princess. It all makes sense if you think about it, Rapunzel. You and the lost princess have the exact same birthday. You saw the mosaic of the princess—you both have green eyes and long blonde hair. If you think about it, you do look like the Queen and the King, but I guess you've never seen them. And you feel like you're drawn to the lanterns, which is the point. The King and the Queen send out the lanterns so that the lost princess might see them and feel like they're calling to her, which _they do._ Do you understand?"

"Now that you mention it…" Rapunzel trailed off, as she realized that she had been subconsciously seeing the sun on the purple banner her entire life. And then she unearthed a memory from the deepest confines of her mind; a memory that included two people—the King and the Queen, as they were depicted in the mosaic—looking at her and smiling. "It does make sense." She smiled. "I'm the lost princess. I'm the lost princess! This changes everything, Eugene!"

"I know," he said dejectedly. "I guess you'll be wanting to go back to the castle now, won't you?"

"Of course!" she exclaimed a little too loudly. Fortunately, Pascal and Max did not stir. "We _have_ to go, Eugene! I have to meet my parents!" Rapunzel was extremely excited. "I cannot believe that I'm the lost princess! My parents are going to be so excited, aren't they? I mean, they've been waiting for me for my entire life!" Rapunzel was standing and looking around for her things as she gathered them in her arms. "Oh, I'm so excited! This is what I've been dreaming of!" Eugene's heart sank a little and he didn't know why. "Oh, Eugene!" And then she realized what she had been saying. Her shoulders sank and she exhaled sharply. "Oh, Eugene," she continued sadly. "You can't go back. You'll be arrested and hanged. And…and I can't go back either. I'm with you."

"You'll be arrested, too."

"That's not what I was talking about," Rapunzel said darkly, shaking her head slowly. She smiled slightly as she said, "I can't go back because I don't want to leave you. I _can't_ leave you. I just can't. You've been there for me. I'm going to be there for you, too, even if that means leaving the kingdom forever. We can get away. My parents…the King and the Queen have been waiting for me since I was kidnapped by Mother…Gothel…and, well, I suppose they might just think I'm dead now. I guess it won't make a difference to them if I go back at all, will it?"

"I'm sure they would want you more than anything, Blondie," Eugene said, not revealing that he was secretly glad that she was going to stay with him and not go back to her real parents and become a princess. "Why don't you go back to sleep? I'll continue watching for danger."

"Do you want me to watch so you can sleep?" Rapunzel asked.

"No," Eugene said. He smiled. "I think the frying pan will protect me."

Rapunzel giggled. "Yes, I think it will. But look at you, Eugene! You're dead on your feet almost! You've been watching for so long! I'll watch, just for a little while, just so you can take a nap. We won't be able to do anything tomorrow if you're sleep-walking!"

Eugene looked uneasy, but eventually gave in. "Alright, but just for a little while. Wake me up in about half an hour."

"Okay," Rapunzel said brightly. Eugene lay down and closed his eyes. Before long, he was out like a lantern.

Rapunzel sat and watched and waited and then watched and waited some more. She heard a rustle in the bushes to her left, and raised the frying pan as she slipped into a defensive mode and stance.

"Who's there? Is it ruffians? Thugs?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly. Rapunzel knew not to judge a book by its cover, especially after meeting the folks at the Snuggly Duckling, but she couldn't help but be wary of her surroundings and of the people her mother—_Gothel_ had warned her about. Rapunzel stared at the bush for what seemed like a long time, but then out jumped a squirrel. She exhaled a breath she hadn't realized that she'd been holding. "Well, that's lucky. You're just a cute little squirrel!"

"Oh, yes, it is cute," came a voice from behind Rapunzel. She gasped and turned around, raising the frying pan before her. "Hello, darling," Gothel said sweetly. _Sweetly evil!_ Rapunzel thought to herself. "It's good to see me, isn't it? I've come to rescue you from this wicked man and his cronies. They've been plotting against you the entire time. I found out from some trustworthy sources that they were planning on cutting your hair and selling it! But not before using it for their own selfish gains!"

"Like you did?" Rapunzel asked in a small voice.

Gothel sighed, "Rapunzel, please, you know how I feel about the mumbling!"

"They would use my hair for their own selfish gains like _you did_?Did I mumble, Mother? Or can I even call you that?" Rapunzel asked angrily.

"What on earth are you talking about, Rapunzel?" Gothel asked, quickly catching on that Rapunzel knew something.

"You're not my mother!" she exclaimed, still soft enough that no one would wake. Fortunately, everyone was tired enough that a little talking wasn't going to wake them. "I know about everything, Moth—Gothel! I know that you kidnapped me. I know that I'm the lost princess!"

Even though Gothel said, "Please, darling, that's demented," Rapunzel saw the truth in Gothel's eyes. The old woman wasn't nearly good enough at keeping secrets as she claimed to be. Rapunzel didn't understand why she didn't see this earlier.

"No, it's not! I know everything!"

"Keep telling yourself that, darling. I know that you're my daughter. I gave birth to you!"

"Liar!"

"I nursed you!"

"Liar!"

"I raised you!"

"Liar!" Rapunzel cried, tears welling in her eyes and slipping down her cheeks.

"Is it a lie, Rapunzel? I did raise you! I should've have just locked you up and never bothered with the formalities!" Rapunzel quickly glanced over to Eugene, who was sound asleep about ten feet away. "Don't even bother waking him, Rapunzel. Come on, we're going far away from—"

"No!" Rapunzel exclaimed.

"No? As if you had a choice," Gothel chuckled. She yanked on Rapunzel's hair, causing the girl to cry out in pain. Rapunzel hadn't even realized that Gothel had hold of her hair.

"Stop!" Rapunzel cried, feeling the hairs being pulled from her scalp. With every tug that Gothel pulled, trying to pull Rapunzel away, Rapunzel shouted and fought, making the pain worse so that the tears were flowing constantly down her cheeks. Eventually, the pain became too much and she flat out screamed.

Eugene, Maximus, and Pascal awoke to the sight of Rapunzel getting dragged off by her hair and sobbing in pain. Flynn Rider immediately grabbed the frying pan, which Rapunzel had dropped in an attempt to clutch her head and force Gothel to release her hair. Max whinnied and ran off to go find help. Pascal's eyes popped, but he recovered and ran over to the Gothel. He tugged on her skirts, but she kicked him away. Rapunzel shouted, "Pascal!" The chameleon lay unresponsive on the ground next to a bush.

The Flynn Rider portion of Eugene Fitzherbert took control over Eugene Fitzherbert's body, but Eugene took back control, because he knew that when it came down to it, he would rather rescue Rapunzel as himself, and not as a false identity.

"Rapunzel!" he shouted. She looked over at him, but was unable to do anything because she was still being pulled away. Rapunzel stopped struggling and finally attacked Gothel. Eventually, the old woman let go of Rapunzel's hair, or at least enough to where Rapunzel could get far enough away and back toward Eugene. Rapunzel grabbed Eugene's arm and held on tight.

Gothel released her claim on Rapunzel's hair and pulled out a dagger. Both Rapunzel and Eugene noticed the feral glint in her eye. Rapunzel grabbed the frying pan, rushed to Gothel with it, and beat the dagger out of Gothel's hand so it hit the ground. Eugene grabbed the dagger and held it over Gothel as Rapunzel forced her to the forest floor.

The campfire was the only light source, but it was enough to show the fear that now resided in Gothel's eyes. Eugene looked down at Gothel, who seemed to be having a staring competition with her ex-daughter. He wondered if Rapunzel would kill him if he just stabbed Gothel and killed her. It sure would save a heck of a lot of problems.

But Eugene knew that Rapunzel loved Gothel, even if it was subconscious and buried deep, deep, _deep _down. Rapunzel would always love the woman who raised her. Even if the woman who raised her was a selfish, old woman who only raised Rapunzel to cultivate the power in Rapunzel's hair which was keeping her alive. _Wait…keeping her alive…_ Eugene thought to himself. _If Gothel really is centuries old, then destroying her life source would kill her. Did I read that in a book? Whatever. Would Rapunzel kill me if I cut her hair off?_

Then Eugene saw the look in Gothel's eye as her hand crept toward her leg. Somehow, Eugene knew that she had another dagger hidden and would use it in a way that would prove fatal to him, most likely, allowing the old woman to take Rapunzel far, far away and hide her where no one would ever find her.

Eugene made up his mind to act on the spot.


	11. Happily Ever After ish

**Well, here it is! The final chapter/epilogue of Intertwined! This has been a pleasure to write! I am so thrilled that I actually finished it! By the way, the end of this will be greatly enhanced by some music; I recommend "Time to Go Home" from the Dawn Treader soundtrack. That's what I was listening to as I wrote this. :)**

**Without giving anything away, I'm going to say that I was originally going for a movie ending where Rapunzel was the one stabbed and then Eugene was all sad and had to sing (I actually have that written down), but I didn't like it because it was cliche. This chapter basically wrote itself, and I hope you're happy with it.**

**Oh, and please check out my Tangled/Narnia crossover, which I should be posting later today. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. :( And the song used is "Field of Flowers" from Narnia the Musical. I was in it a couple of years ago as Susan and found it was very fitting.**

**Please enjoy and review! Your reviews mean the world to me! Thank you so much for this wonderful journey! It has been great! :)**

_Chapter X – Happily Ever After-ish _

Eugene Fitzherbert saw the woman's hand slide slowly behind her leg. He acted without thinking, or rather, decided to act without thinking. It was much easier with no strings attached and the guilt of saying, 'I picked this decision and now I must live with the consequences.' He was more of an 'I picked to let my muscles pick this decision and now we all must live with the consequences because this is clearly not my fault' type of guy.

So Eugene let his arms decide. And his arms decided to take the dagger that was in his hands and grab Rapunzel's hair and chop it off at the base of her chin into a sort of bob hairstyle that was much shorter than the average woman's in the kingdom. However, Rapunzel was a modern girl. She could handle it.

Unfortunately, both women noticed at the same time. Rapunzel's hair fell to the ground and she clutched her head. "Eugene!" she squeaked. Her hair turned brown as it hit the ground and snaked around the area. Gothel clutched at the hair, trying to retain its power, but she quickly began to grow older and older and older and older and older until she turned into a pile of dust. Rapunzel cried out in anguish at the loss of her mother figure. "How could you?" she asked, betrayed that Eugene would _cut her hair_ and then kill the woman who raised her!

"I did it to save you!" he said. But as soon as these words left his lips, Rapunzel collapsed to the ground. Her eyes were closed and her breathing shallow. "Rapunzel!" Eugene gasped and fell down beside her. He lifted her head into his lap and rested it there cautiously. "What did I do?" he asked himself.

She was incredibly weak, but she somehow found the energy to say, "Oh, Eugene…I…My hair…I guess…it held…my energy…and strength…I didn't know…it…was keeping…me…alive…"

"Oh, Rapunzel," Eugene said. "I'm so sorry." He knew that by cutting off her hair, he had weakened her and she didn't have the strength to go on in life. He knew that by cutting off her hair, he had killed her, the only woman he could ever love.

"Please, Eugene," she said slowly, "Find Pascal…for me…" Eugene carefully laid Rapunzel's head on the ground and looked around for the frog—chameleon. He located the creature by the bush. Eugene carefully picked him up and carried him over to Rapunzel. Eugene sat on the ground and lifted Rapunzel so she had her head in his lap again. He placed Pascal in her small, pale hands and allowed her to gently rub the chameleon's back. "Thank you…Oh, Pascal…" The chameleon woke up and grabbed one of her fingers between his paws.

"Rapunzel, I'm so sorry! I didn't know," Eugene said.

"I know you didn't," she said. "You would never…do this…on purpose…Eugene…" She breathed shallowly for a few moments, as she gathered the strength to say, "Please…stay…with me."

"I will. I swear," he said, tears filling his eyes. And Eugene Fitzherbert _never _cried. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. He ran his fingers through her short brown hair as he saw her eyes close. Eugene knew that he needed to comfort her in her last moments. He softly began to sing a mourning song he had learned as a child in the orphanage, modifying some of the words to fit, "Lay her in a field of flowers, let sage and clover become her bed. Lay her in a field of flowers, put sprays of lilac beneath her head. The willow will weep, the swallow will call, the wind in the trees will mourn her fall. Still spring will fill the fields with flowers, with lilacs and lilies and all…Bear her as a fallen hero with solemn honor and dignity. But bear her to a greening meadow, let spring itself be her eulogy. For spring means rebirth, though each flower dies. The seeds fall to Earth, take root, and rise! So lay her in a field of flowers, and flowers will bloom where she lies!" On the last, shaky, tearful note, Rapunzel exhaled softly and became still.

Tears ran down Eugene's cheeks. Pascal began to cry as well. Max entered the clearing, dejected because he had not found help. He saw Rapunzel and looked at Eugene.

"She was the lost princess," Eugene whispered. Maximus' eyes widened and he knelt to the ground in reverence and honor. "And now she's gone…"

Eugene turned to face Rapunzel and looked at her pale face. She looked so different with brown hair. Eugene liked it. He liked her hair blonde, but she looked so…she looked so like _herself_ with brown hair. Eugene shut his eyes and recalled memories of her song that would make her hair glow.

He gently sang, "Flower gleam and glow…let your…power shine…make the clock reverse…bring back what once was mine…Heal what has been hurt…change the fates' design…save what has been lost…bring back what once was mine…what once was mine…" He was so desperate to try anything that would possibly bring her back to him. Eugene half expected her hair to glow and heal her, but, of course, nothing happened.

Like the Fates of mythology, Eugene had cut her thread—or_ hair_—of life, and she had died because of his rash actions. He should have just let Gothel pull out the dagger and kill him. He could have then cut her hair, killing Gothel, but then she would have died, too. There was no way out of this vicious circle of death! Eugene almost wished that he had done things the other way, where he died and then she died. It was easier than living with the guilt of having killed the woman he loved.

Oh, yes. He loved her. While he may not have completely realized it while she was living and breathing beside him, Eugene realized that he truly loved her while he was singing the mourning song. And he killed her. He _killed _her! He was a murderer.

That was it then.

Eugene knew there was only one thing he could do. The sun was rising over the trees. The light was beginning to fill the small clearing where they had made camp. He gently placed her head on the ground and stared at her blank face. He carefully leaned down and kissed her dead lips. Of course, nothing happened.

True love's kiss was a fairytale for a magical world. There was no magic in this world. Only hate, cruelty, and death.

Eugene stood. Pascal and Max stared at him, silently asking, "Where are you going? How could you leave her?"

"She's dead. It's my fault. I'm going to turn myself in. It's the right thing to do." With these words, Eugene began to walk away, shoulders sagging. Pascal and Max stared after him, but then Pascal charged at Eugene. The chameleon pulled at Pascal's boots, but was not strong enough to stop a grown man. Maximus, however, had more luck. He ran right in front of Eugene and would not let him pass. "Move…Let me go!" Eugene growled at the horse.

Max didn't move. But he looked past Eugene's shoulder and his eyes widened. Pascal turned and saw. Eugene didn't want to look, but curiosity got the best of him. He turned slowly and inhaled sharply as he saw Rapunzel slowly rise to a sitting position and blink a few times.

"Eugene!" she cried.

"Rapunzel!" he said happily. It was too good to be true, but there she was, alive and breathing. Eugene ran over to Rapunzel and knelt down beside her. They smiled at each other, and embraced. Rapunzel pulled back, giggled, and eagerly pressed her lips to his. Eugene's eyes widened, but then he realized what was happening. He responded happily and after a few seconds, they pulled apart and embraced again. He smiled as he buried his face in her neck.

Both were content to stay like this forever.

Eugene pulled away from Rapunzel and stood, offering out his hand. She gladly took it and allowed him to pull her up. He didn't let go of her hand, but laced his fingers between hers and squeezed. She smiled and blushed, allowing him to lead her away. Max and Pascal followed willingly, but allowed the two to walk a little ways a head to give them some privacy.

* * *

"Are you sure you want this?" Eugene asked as Rapunzel neatly folded up the letter she'd been writing.

"I'm sure."

"You're positive? Because once we do this, we can't exactly change it."

"I'm sure," Rapunzel reassured him. "I wouldn't want to do anything else."

Eugene smiled at her and squeezed her hand. Rapunzel smiled and closed her eyes as Eugene kissed her again. Rapunzel pulled apart and handed the letter to the barman at the Snuggly Duckling. He smiled a toothy (but missing some teeth) grin and placed the letter in the mailbox.

Rapunzel and Eugene walked outside where Pascal and Maximus were waiting. "Are you ready?" Eugene asked as he pulled Rapunzel up onto the horse.

"Of course," she answered. He kissed her again, more passionately than before. "Let's go."

"As you wish," he said and Max sped off.

She wrapped her hands around his waist. Rapunzel rested her head on his shoulder as they rode off into the sun and into their destiny.

_Your Majesties,_

_I don't really know how to say this, but I am the lost princess, your daughter. An old woman, Gothel, kidnapped me as a baby and locked me in tower. I was rescued a few days ago by Flynn Rider. I am sure you are aware of this. I have no intentions of coming back to live in the palace with you. Please understand that I have nothing against you personally, but I feel that I am not meant to be with you. I feel as if I meant to be somewhere else, with my Eugene Fitzherbert._

_I beg you to please call off all searches for Flynn Rider, myself, and the horse Maximus. We have all agreed to leave the kingdom and make a life elsewhere. Please forgive me for this, but while I may have been born a princess, I am not a princess at heart. Forgive me, I beg you. May you live in peace knowing that your daughter has found life, love, and happiness, even if it is not with you._

_As for Maximus, he has become our friend, and I asked him if he wanted to come with us or go home. He wishes to stay with us and live elsewhere. I am sorry that he has left your guards. Please apologize for me._

_I am deeply sorry for any pain I may have caused you over the years. I am even sorrier that I will never meet you in person. But I love Eugene with all my heart, and I know that I will never be truly happy without him, and I know that it wouldn't be possible for me to be a princess and still be with him._

_I will always love you because you are my parents, but I cannot live as a princess. I love Eugene far too much. Please forgive us._

_Your daughter,_

_Rapunzel_


End file.
